THEY WILL CALL HIM EMMANUEL, A NAME WHICH MEANS “GOD IS WITH US” (MT 1:18-25)

1. My dear Christians and all the people of good will in the Archdiocese of Nairobi and the Catholic Diocese of Muranga: The season of Advent is with us, and for us, once again. It is a preparation for Christmas for which we are awaiting to receive the good news. Advent is a time set apart to prepare us for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; not only His first coming in historical Bethlehem, but also his second coming at the end of time. There are situations that tend to distract us still from the values of the kingdom such as the violence we experienced at the beginning of this year and the continuous cry for justice especially by our brothers and sisters still residing in camps of internally displaced peoples. 

2. The mode of this season reminds us to prepare a way for the Lord; make his path straight…and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God (Lk 3:4.6). As we start this grace-filled moment of Advent, to prepare ourselves for Christmas and the beginning of New Year 2009, we take the occasion to reflect on the great mystery of Incarnation. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us to offer us salvation and life. 

3. Advent helps us to echo the words of the Psalmist and to make them our own: Lord of hosts, restore us; let your face shine upon us, that we may be saved (Ps 80:3). Advent assists us to make real our sense of expectancy for dignified living. Jesus’ birth among us comes to deliver us from evil and to guide us into a new era of Justice and Peace. The Advent season is here to remind us to “stay awake” and “be alert” for the unknown moment for when He will call us to Himself. Advent is that favourable and opportune moment that challenges us to prepare our hearts and minds to amend our lives through honest and sincere repentance so as to live as one family of God. Advent reminds each of us that God is not far away. That He is here in Christ who is Emmanuel - God with us. Awaken then! Be ready! For the Lord is near!

WHAT IS CHRISTMAS FOR YOU TODAY?

Christmas is known to be the annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ on 25th December every year. By this, we proclaim and relive the very experience of the historical birth of Our Lord and King, Jesus Christ that took place more than 2000 years ago. 

The very words pronounced by the angel, Behold, I proclaim to you good news…Today in the city of David a saviour has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord (Lk 2:10-11), stress the kingship of Jesus. For centuries now, however, it has become a secular celebration when gifts and greetings are exchanged. The most felt impact is the liturgical pomp that surrounds this day. Christians buy new clothes, cook nice meals, read the Scriptures, and sing Christmas carols day and night throughout this season. Is this what Christmas is really about? We have to come back to the original meaning, which is to recognise that God is among us.

4. A similar formula of proclamation was used by the Romans to announce the birth of an emperor. But this king (Jesus) baffles us from the very beginning. He is not born in a great palace but in a manger, and He does not possess any of the means that people consider absolutely necessary to transform the world: money, arms, power, and powerful alliances. 

5. The sign given to the shepherds in order to recognise Him is surprising. They are not told that they will find a child wrapped up in light, with the face of an angel, a halo on his head and surrounded by a heavenly company. Nothing like that! They will find a perfectly normal boy child with just one particular characteristic: he is poor and is among the poor people. 

6. This birth reveals from the start, and quite clearly, God’s way of thinking. Some people tend to think that the power of evil can be overcome by using their weapons: money, deceit and corruption. They also think that violence can be eliminated by even greater violence; that bloody wars can be ended only by other bloody wars. Instead, the message of Christmas night tells us of a God who chooses poverty and weakness, and teaches us to discard the human way of relying on human power and strength. A kind of logic that even we Christians may be tempted to disregard and fail to accept. 

Purpose of Christmas

7. To whom is this birth announced? Who can see in this newborn baby (a king without power, throne, crown, and an army) the Saviour, the Messiah, the expected son of David? Why is this birth made known first to shepherds? Is it because they were the most approachable and accepting people? Are we so sure that shepherds were simple, good, innocent, honest and respected people? 

8. I am afraid this was not the case. Shepherds were considered among the worst people around and for very good reasons. They were impure by nature. They led a life not very different from the life of the animals they tendered. They were not allowed to enter the Temple to pray. Even their testimony in court was not accepted since they were considered liars, dishonest, thieves and violent people. 

9. The Rabbis taught that shepherds, publicans and tax collectors would find salvation almost impossible since their lives were so evil. They robbed so many people that they could not keep count of what they stole! Therefore they could never return what they had stolen as the law demanded. Well, the Gospel tells us that the Son of God has come into the world even for them, a saviour has been born for you (Lk 2:11). Christmas is meant to bridge the gap that existed for centuries between God and humanity provoked by historical sin and stubbornness.

The Historicity of the Gap

10. In 587 BC, nearly six hundred years before the birth of Christ, Jerusalem was completely destroyed after a terrible war between the kingdom of Judah and Babylon. The soldiers of Babylon had behaved brutally: they razed the Temple, removed everything of value they could lay their hands on, captured all the young and healthy people and made them prisoners, and then deported them as slaves to their own land. 

11. This was the most dramatic experience in the whole history of the people of Israel. Once in Babylon toiling in the fields of their masters, the deportees understood why all this had happened: their chiefs had not listened to the prophets, the people of Israel had let themselves be deceived, they had committed too many iniquities, and God had seemingly abandoned them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies. The exiles were in Babylon for many years and their hearts were heavy when they remembered their faraway country until God finally decided to free them. This is the historical context and setting of Christmas. 

12. The Prophet imagines himself standing on the top of the mountain where Jerusalem is built. From there he sees a lot of life and activity in the city: people running about excited, dancing and cheering. What is happening? He looks again more carefully and sees the watchmen running along the streets and giving news to all they meet on their way. The prophet thinks that the news being spread among the people must really be extraordinary since everybody is filled with joy and happiness. What is it that the watchmen have seen? What are they announcing to the people? 

13. The watchmen have seen crowds of exiles returning from Babylon. The period of slavery is over, sufferings and humiliations are finished, and the chiefs and the evil kings together with the bad shepherds who exploited the people have been removed for ever. A new era has dawned, a new kingdom has been founded, and the Lord will personally lead His people. The Prophet had this dream in the year 530 BC, about sixty years after the destruction of Jerusalem. The eventual return of the exiles, however, was anything but a triumph since they were received with hostility. The question of land, power sharing, property and wealth stood in between. Those who remained at home considered the exiles to be intruders. Only later did the people understand that the deportees’ deliverance from Babylon was mainly the image of a liberation that God was to bring about in the future for the whole of humanity. The promised kingdom, as we now see, would start only with the birth of the Messiah.

14. Today, here in our country, we are facing a situation similar to the one experienced by the people of Israel in the year 530 BC. We see that the promised social, political, economical, and spiritual liberation is incomplete. But like the people of Israel we must trust in God, though the signs of salvation we are able to see now are still very small. The new kingdom has begun and we are the watchmen who have seen it and must proclaim it to all. 

15. How and why is it that our announcement does not cause any display of joy? One does not communicate only by using spoken language. There are many other ways to express our feelings or opinions: an angry face, a smile, a glance, a caress, a handshake, a gift. All these can express what we feel much better and more effectively than words. Yet the joy of receiving the good news about the birth of Jesus Christ cannot be compromised. We are a generation that rejoice over food, drink, leisure and human success; has this become a substitute for real Christmas? 

A Feast of Love

16. Christmas is the feast that reveals to us how God used many and varied ways to make all people aware of his love for them. He spoke, first of all, through creation. That is, He made things so beautiful that everyone who contemplates them should be able to discover the love of God the Father who made them. Whoever uses created things without questioning whether their Maker has something to say through them, is a materialist, and unable to understand the language of love. The non-believers arrived at the knowledge of God through creation. They saw a message from the One on high and in all events: in all natural phenomena, in the rising sun, in the rain, in the earthquake, and even in simpler manifestations. However, this way of communicating through creation is the least perfect. 

The Feast of the WORD Made Flesh

17. The people of Israel had the privilege of hearing the voice of God in a clearer way through the mouths of the prophets. God has no mouth so He made use of the mouths of the prophets to make Himself known and to communicate His message. God called prophets to interpret the signs of the time in His name. But this way was not the best for self-revelation. So God, in the fulness of time, sent His Son into this world, the one who is the perfect image of Himself, His “Word.” 

18. Jesus is the highest possible revelation, the most eloquent surprise of the person of the Father, as the Gospel of John (1:1-18) would put it. John goes back long before the event of the birth and begins with an important assertion: the Son of God, who became man, existed even before the creation of the world. He calls the Son of God,“ the Word.” What does this term stand for when applied to a person? Word is a term linked to speech, and what is the use of speech? Surely it is to communicate with others. Christmas is gift of communication. 

19. Jesus, the Son of God, is the Word of the Father, the tongue to speak to us. How much the Father loves us! The Word of God became flesh two thousand years ago. He was made man like us and spoke a human language. Thus He could tell us what we are in the eyes of our Father and His plan for us. If we want to know the Father, we do not have to go through a lot of wondering. All we have to do is look at Christ, see what He does, listen to what He says and teaches; watch how He behaves; notice the people He associates with; where He takes His meals and with whom; and observe the persons He chooses, rebukes, and defends. 

20. The first thing that He reveals to us is that the Father loves humankind. He is not the type who lives high up in heaven, far away, who is not concerned with our problems, who has issued His laws and keeps accurate count of those observing them and those who infringe on them in order to reward or punish severely. The God of Christianity is not that. He likes the company of people. He is a God who punishes; rather He is a God who saves. Christmas confirms to us that the Word was made flesh, and He lives here among us. This could be more appropriately translated as “He came to be one with us.” 

What we have to Question Within Ourselves

21. If the Father loves us so much, why don’t we love each other? Why do we experience hatred in our midst? Why do we experience killings in our midst? Doesn’t this behaviour show that there is failure to understand what the Father wants to tell us by sending his Son? 

22. Christmas confirms how the Word came as the light…and the darkness has not overcome it (Jn 1:5). A new human person has suddenly risen within humanity steeped in sin. He is the beginning of the new creation. But this light has not been received peacefully by all of us. There is still a hard struggle between the light that has come down from heaven and the darkness that now covers the world. 

23. The darkness represents the forces of evil: sin, selfishness, exploitation, oppression and bad governance of every kind. The light fights this darkness without doing away with it immediately; but the darkness for its part cannot overpower the light. This struggle is to continue until the light is fully victorious. We are sure of this victory just as we are sure that Christ conquered sin on Christmas Day by assuming our human nature, which was crippled by pride. 

Which Status is Christmas? 

24. Christmas is a “CHILD IS BORN TO US” as promised by the prophet Isaiah to bring light into our world and transform our lives. Christmas is more than food and drink; it is louder than the carols. It is a new chapter to be accomplished in your innermost self. Therefore, make everyday a Christmas Day!

25. From his birth, Jesus has chosen to be among the lowest and last in society: the sinners, the outcasts, those who suffer most, and those who lack everything in life. They, not the “just,” are the ones anxiously expecting the liberating and saving Word of God. Jesus will continue to be with these people. He will speak their simple language; will make use of their comparisons and their parables. He will share their joys and sufferings; will side with them against anybody seeking to isolate them from society. The poor, the ignorant, and the despised recognise him immediately and welcome him with joy because Jesus comes to transform them to better their situation. 

26. On the other side are those who have: the rich, the powerful, the warlords; those who live aloof in their palaces far from the people and their problems, convinced that they know everything and possess all that is required to make themselves happy; and sometimes they run the risk of thinking they are self- sufficient. They hardly see the needs of those who do not have. For these, too, Jesus comes to assist them to learn the theory of enjoying and sharing what they have. It is my wish and hope that these people will find encouragement in the prayer of St Paul, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:3).

Coming to Teach us Compassion

27. How timely and true are words of prophet Isaiah, repeated in St Luke’s Gospel, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor (Lk 4:18). The child who is born, the Emmanuel, is coming to bring glad tidings to the whole of creation, and above all, to set before us the year of the Lord where compassion and mercy flow from each one of us to heal the broken-hearted and bandage the wounded.

28. Compassion is living with an awakened heart. It is allowing the fire of love and a passion for justice to mobilise us, impelling us to go beyond feeling sorry to seeking a solidarity that transformations and begins with our own ongoing conversion. It is giving all that we do and all that we are, our giftedness and our frailty, to God’s Project of Love. It is putting broken, divided hearts back together that they may be one because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace (Lk 1: 78-79).

29. Therefore, Christmas is a time to pray to the God of hosts to bring us back to His path; and to request Him to let His face shine on us that we may be saved. May this Christmas be the moment for a new birth of compassion and mercy in each one of us and in our nation. Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again rejoice…The Lord is near (Phil 4:4-5). Indeed, Today…a saviour has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord (Lk 2:11). 

30. My dear Christians and all the people of good will in the Archdiocese of Nairobi and the Catholic Diocese of Muranga, Merry Christmas and happy New Year. 

My heartfelt greetings to all the children: Dear children, on the occasion of celebrating Christmas, I invite you to share what you have with the less fortunate children in your neighbourhood and beyond. Imitate the Baby Jesus by bringing good news and warmth in the cold hearts of today. 

My Christmas greetings to all the youth: I invite you to rekindle your call and commitment towards generosity. You are the true garden of all good vocations. Please do not shy away from the challenge. 

My Christmas greetings especially to all mothers: I remind you to uphold the dignity of motherhood. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, allow God to work through you to keep humanity alive. 

My Christmas greetings to all the fathers: I remind you to faithfully play your rightful role as custodians of that institution that is the family by imitating St Joseph. 

My Christmas greetings to all priests and religious men and women: I call upon you to uphold the dignity of your mission as heralds of the Good News. You are the St Pauls of today. You are the Magi of our generation.

May the peace of the newborn king, Jesus Christ our Lord, be with you all. With prayerful best wishes, I bless you and remain Your Shepherd,

John Cardinal Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi and Apostolic Administrator of Murang’a