Christmas Sharing god’s gift with us
If we look at the whole panorama of Christmas in a different angle the Magi, the manger and the comet symbolically enhances the meaning of the spirit of sharing in Christmas. According to the Scripture the magi carried with them Gold, Frankincense and myrrh. Those Gifts were symbolical but signify the three major functions of Jesus’ public ministry, namely Kingly function, priestly function and shepherding function. Christmas is not an event of gathering at the baby Jesus but an opportunity to recall our baptism seriously and to evaluate our relational behavior to the triple functions that Jesus bestowed to us at the Baptism.
Secondly, the manger where the Baby Jesus was kept by the Blessed Mother symbolically is the cleanest and most suitable place to lay fodder for animals. Mary kept the Baby Jesus on the manger as the most pure and cleanest food from heaven to all of us. This baby Jesus grew up and became food for all of us. This shows how the Eucharist is so closely embedded to Christmas. This culmination we celebrate at the Christmas Eucharist and go home in procession to continue the inner joy with others mostly by sharing a meal with the family members and friends.
Once again, as we get back to the manger, it is quite evident that animals get round the manger when they go hungry to eat food to gain strength. So the herd’s man knows when to fill it with fodder for his animals. The blessed Mother is aware of our hungry moments and the types of our hunger. She kept the baby Jesus in the manger to tell us that we should come round the Eucharist one day and it would be the food from heaven that could give us inner strength. She could have kept the baby Jesus on her lap but she could have purposely kept the baby on the manger to tell us that Jesus belongs to us and we should draw the inner strength from Him to live. We, who gather round the baby Jesus, go back as proclaimers of the Good News.
Let us be the message of Christ by sharing our love with others.
Sr Rishmala – Community of Nagoda
