CHRISTMAS 2013: Merry Christmas from Pax Christi USA

A child is born

 

Teach us the way of Peace 

May God’s blessing be with you and all those you love during this wondrous season and the New Year ahead.

 Pax Christi USA

 Patricia Chappell, SNDdeN
Executive Director

Diane Conocchioli

Myron Ford

Anne-Louise Nadeau, SNDdeN

Lori Nemenz

Johnny Zokovitch

__________

Reflection for Christmas Day

by Judy Coode

Isaiah 52:7-10 | Hebrews 1:1-6 | John 1:1-18

“All things came to be through God, and without God, nothing came to be. What came to be through God was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:3-5)

Christ is come, alleluia. God has prepared space for us and will never abandon us. Though God spoke through the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, God’s own child now lives on Earth and walks among us. St. John Chrysostom writes, “For this day the ancient slavery is ended … the power of death is broken. For this day paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed, error is driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused and spread on every side … On every side all things commingle.”

New ways of thinking of God and God’s connection with creation lead us to acknowledge the interrelationship of all Earth and its content. Theologians are examining a “new cosmology.” Amazing technological advances allow us to see Earth and the surrounding universe in all its beauty; we cannot help but note that our little planet is but one speck in the grand, swirling mass of stars and moons that stretch for trillions and trillions of miles. We are one with this whole little world we trod; how could we be separate? How could God have become human only for us? God’s mercy and love is for all creation, and so must we extend our love and care to everything God has touched.

Oh come, oh come, you lord of might
who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, oh Israel.

This reflection is from The Presence of God: Reflections for Advent 2010. Judy Coode is the co-editor of Maryknoll’s liturgical reading series (available through Orbis) and the communications officer for the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.