It’s still Christmas. We continue to celebrate how Christmas is more than a day, and it lasts through this week to move us to a new season where daylight expands.
It’s still Christmas, and the joys of the season do not deny the sadnesses, too. We feel the absence of loved ones. We see suffering in our world. Christmas helps us to see the contrast between what we believe ought to be and what injustices continue. The Christmas gospel addresses this during the year of Matthew in a particular way.
Matthew’s gospel says that after the wise men had visited the Christ child, they were warned in a dream about Herod’s cruelty, so they returned home by another way. Herod was filled with such fear and rage that he called for the death of children 2 years and under. Tyrants do that. The gospel shows the awfulness of that violence. In a dream God tells Joseph and Mary to go to Egypt; this fulfills a prophecy that “out of Egypt I will call my son.” Where that scripture originally referred to the exodus, now it ties the Christ child’s story to the exodus story. What God longs for is the liberation of people.
I had a professor from Madagascar who one time remarked about how Africa played important roles in the journey of God’s people. How Africa had been where Jacob sought food in a time of need. How Africa provided safety for the holy family on the run. I had not been taught that as I grew up. I wonder how that awareness in our faith can change the ways we act for justice in our world with nonviolence now.
It is still Christmas. God is still taking up residence in our humble spaces. For that I give thanks!
Three Holy Days
In our tradition, we make space on Maundy Thursday to remember central parts of our faith story. We hear about the...
