A Christmas Message from Michael Aguiar, RC Local College Chair
Dear friends,
As we gather in the radiant glow of Christmas, may we turn our hearts into humble mangers, inviting the Lord to dwell within us. The significance of this season lies not only in the story of a Bethlehem stable but in the profound mystery of making room for Jesus in the very core of our beings.
The stable of our lives is often messy, noisy, and busy. However, that is exactly where Christ enters. In the messiness and busyness of our day-to-day life. This invitation to “Keep Christ in Christmas” encourages us to remember the reason for the season, as they say.
Stable, sacrifice, suffering, supplication, salvation: what do these words share in common, besides the obvious? By what means can we reconcile such diverse and seemingly opposing terms? One word alone suffices. It is the first word of the Word; rather, it is the newborn Child’s cry.
The first divine shout brought forth light, creation, and beauty. But when man rejected the Good and fell, God made certain that “non serviam” would not be the final word. He sent us His very own Son, whose muffled cries amidst some hay ignited our salvation, again renewing the face of the earth. What was it like, that moment when God’s voice again penetrated the darkness, bringing forth the light of life? More importantly, why did it have to be so? Why would God’s entrance be signaled by the whimpering of a baby and not by a mighty trumpet fanfare?
Does He feel the weight of His glory? Does He yet understand the price? The secret to understanding the mysterious questions that arise around our Savior’s life lies directly within the Paschal Mystery, the greatest of mysteries. “Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last” (Mk 15:37). There it is again – the divine cry. These two shouts are the parentheses encompassing the entire life of Christ, the one who came to save us. From birth to death, the Savior’s life was filled with cries: crying from the mothers of the innocents, from the Jordan desert, from the demoniacs, from the apostle sinking beneath waves, from the bewildered Pharisees… Man’s life is one long symphony of cries.
It is in understanding the words, the Word that was made flesh, that gives meaning to these cries, to the mess, and noise. Through the inspiration of our locality’s Shoebox Mission, we have become attuned to the needs of those around us—the lonely, the hurting, the marginalized. In these cries of humanity, we find an invitation to embody the love and compassion of Christ, bringing solace and warmth to hearts in need. May the love of Christ continue to urge us on these days, and every day to joyfully live our Regnum Christi charism.
Merry Christmas!
Michael Aguiar