Much of the power of Christmas and Epiphany lies in their capacity to offer us a fresh start. In the 5th century, Pope Leo the Great observed that the Spirit of God that inspired the birth of Jesus empowers all generations of Christians to be reborn on Christmas “through the womb of the Holy Church.” If this observation is true, then an important faith question for people of faith to ask is, “What sort of fresh start does the birth of Christ offer me this New Year?”
January is a popular month to make fresh starts. After more than a month of feasting, the television currently is filled with advertisements urging us to eat less and exercise more. Certainly, it’s worthwhile to resolve to make personal lifestyle changes in order to live healthier and happier lives. But there is a deeper style of resolution making that has to do with living with more meaning and integrity. In this regard, one of the most important spiritual ways we can make a fresh start in 2010 is by resolving to be more hopeful and less fearful.
Many social analysts are calling the past ten years “a lost decade.” They note that we have spent our time waging war, failing to care for Mother Earth and allowing the quality of life in our nation to deteriorate in tragic ways. All of these negative behaviors are a consequence of living in fear rather than hope— of being more worried about what others might do to us than about our opportunity to be Christ to our neighbors.
Christmas and Epiphany invite us to trust in God to renew the earth and all people. We witness this trust in the Christmas hope expressed by the shepherds, the Magi and the Holy Family.
The Shepherds were so filled with awe by the songs of angels in the desert sky that they left their sheep and went to Bethlehem to see what they had been told. Luke tells us that after their encounter with the Word Made Flesh they went back to their everyday lives “glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen.” May we, like the shepherds, live lives filled with joy because of God’s gift of a Prince of Peace who embodies the way we are meant to live.
After visiting the manger, the Magi were inspired to return home by a different way. Herod invited them to collaborate with his cruel use of power, but the Magi avoided the King and went back to their daily lives by a path less traveled. That path was the way of a little child whose perfect love turned human life in the direction of kindness and compassion. May we, like the Magi, make a fresh start by living more peacefully. No more reliance on violence to force others to do things our way. No more attempts to shock and awe the world through the use of raw power. Instead, let us remember the Apostle Paul’s insight that Christ’s birth was designed to non-violently break down the dividing walls of hostility, create one new humanity instead of warring groups and make peace.
The Holy Family was forced to flee into exile in order to save themselves from Herod’s paramilitary. Their sojourn in Egypt reminds us that the world is still not able to contain too much goodness, too much love, too much innocence. Each Christmas, God surprises us with the Word made flesh, but not everyone is pleased by this gift. Like Mary and Joseph, those of us who celebrate the coming of the true light must often do so on the periphery of our secular society rather than at its center. We must wait for the old ways of Herod to die out even as we bear witness to the new age that the birth Christ embodies. My friends Betty and Lois sent me a Christmas letter containing a lovely wish for a fresh start this New Year. They wrote, “Smile and remember the wonderful gift we have received from God in the Christ child. May you have his peace all year.”
Then, my colleagues Padre Carlo and Hermana Paty wrote from St. Francis Roman Catholic Church in the pueblo of Amatenango in Chiapas, Mexico to add an additional dimension to Betty and Lois’ wish. Theysay:
“May the birth of Christ occur each day so that we are able to celebrate the peace, the hope and the light of God in the world. We need everyone to do this: our churches, our countries and our consciences. For this reason, it is important for us all to be working and struggling for the utopia we call the Reign of God.”
I wish you all spiritual fresh starts this New Year!
Each month a member of the
Cook County Ministerium will
offer Spiritual Reflections. For
January, our contributor is
Reverend Peter R. Monkres of the
First Congregational Church –
United Church of Christ, Grand
Marais, a Just Peace church.
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