We celebrate this Christmas during the Jubilee of Mercy which our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has invoked for the entire Church. This is a very special year in which we reflect upon the mercy of God for each and every one of us in a manner that is truly beyond human comprehension. Pope Francis has spoken so movingly on the mercy of God and continues to remind us that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God and no one from whom God's mercy is lacking. He has emphasized how the Good News of Jesus Christ is meant to reach the periphery of the world and to remind every person of their worth and dignity. Indeed, Christmas is the celebration of our faith that reveals the mercy of God in a manner that was never expected in salvation history. As God literally becomes one of us, out of mercy for us, we are united to Him so deeply that we are reminded of what our lives are all about. Mercy and Christmas, the Birth of Christ, are one and the same. Indeed, Merry Christmas and Mercy Christmas are synonymous, for to experience mercy is to experience true joy.
Pope Francis has often used the word "tenderness" to describe God's love and mercy. God is not a God of power and authority, but a God of tenderness. Last year, in his Christmas homily, he remarked, "On this holy night, while we contemplate the infant Jesus just born and placed in the manger, we are invited to reflect. How do we welcome the tenderness of God? Do I allow myself to be taken up by God, to be embraced by Him, or do I prevent Him from drawing close? 'But I am searching for the Lord' - we could respond. Nevertheless, what is most important is not seeking Him, but rather allowing Him to find me and caress me with tenderness. The question put to us simply by the infant's presence is: do I allow God to love me?" As we celebrate Christmas, we cannot help but be moved by the tenderness which God shows us in the infant Jesus born in Bethlehem under the humblest conditions. It is very appropriate that tenderness towards the infant Christ is invoked in us, for this is precisely the reason for which the Lord came.
So many times we can be tempted to think of our relationship with God in a one way direction. We think that God created us in order for us to love Him and to live in union with Him. While we realize how much God's love, mercy and tenderness means to us, we do not take too seriously how much our love and tenderness mean to God. We think of our return of love to God as something that is expected by the Supreme Being in offering Him adoration and gratitude for His creating us. However, we really don't think of our love for God as making a difference to Him. We would not be here if God did not love us, but God would be God whether we love Him or not. We think that God's love for us makes a difference, but our love for Him is only for our own good in terms of our salvation. The mercy which God shows us at Christmas, by becoming one of us as an infant child, reveals the depth of how much our love for God means to Him. Christmas reveals to us that our thinking is not correct. We are in a real relationship with God and it is only in recognizing that relationship that we find the meaning and joy in life. Our relationship with God is not a one way direction. It is a real relationship that goes in both directions.
When God created the world and made man and woman in His image and likeness handing over to them His creation as their own, we know that humanity almost instantly rejected the love of God by wanting to put itself in His place. The first man and woman did not allow themselves to be taken up by God's tenderness and prevented themselves from drawing close to Him. They would not allow God to love them. Because of this, sin entered the world and the snowball effect of evil naturally caused the greatest disruption to God's plan in creation. God could have immediately ended the entire world by destroying His creation of humanity as a more than just punishment for the offense against Him. But He did not. He did not create out of power but out of love. Over and over again He showed mercy, forgave sin and sent His prophets with a tender message. All of this was rejected and was hurtful to God who wanted the tenderness of His creation in return. Finally, as we celebrate at Christmas, God gave us that which was closest to Him - His own beloved Son, who came to us born as an infant to show us His mercy as well as to invoke our tenderness toward Him. This great gift of His Son was eventually rejected as He was put to death as a criminal and gave His life on the Cross. Here again, God could have ended our existence which would have been most understandable from the point of view of justice. However, His Son gave His life to show us His love and mercy and how much we mean to Him. The crib and the Cross are part of the same mystery that reveals God's mercy. It is only by accepting that mercy in our lives and in sharing it with one another that we find who we are and what life is all about.
Pope Benedict XVI, the predecessor of Pope Francis, also spoke frequently and movingly on the love and mercy of God. In fact, his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, God is Love, set the tone for the teaching of his papacy which was, like Francis, the unfathomable love and mercy of God for each and every one of us. Pope Benedict understood well how the mercy of God is revealed in the crib. In his homily for Christmas Mass in 2008, he said, " 'God stoops down.' This is a prophetic word. That night in Bethlehem it took on a completely new meaning. God stooping down became real in a way previously inconceivable. He stoops down - He Himself comes down as a child to the lowly stable, the symbol of all humanity's neediness and forsakenness. God truly comes down. He becomes a child and puts Himself in the state of a newborn child. The Creator who holds all things in His hands, on whom we all depend, makes Himself small and in need of human love." What awesome words the Pope uttered especially in telling us that God made Himself in need of human love. God wants our love because it makes a difference to Him. It is our relationship with God, real and living despite all our sins and faults, which gives joy to our lives.
Pope Benedict also understood how the mercy of God is revealed on the Cross. In his homily on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2007, he said "The Lord took His wounds with Him to eternity. He is a wounded God; He let Himself be injured through His love for us. His wounds are a sign that He understands and allows Himself to be wounded out of love for us. These wounds of His: how tangible they are to us in the history of our time! Indeed, time and again, He allows Himself to be wounded for our sake. What certainty of His mercy, what consolation do His wounds mean for us!" Again, these awesome words remind us that God wants our love and our tenderness for Him in order that we might know the true joy of life.
As we celebrate this Christmas during this Year of Mercy, we realize that a Mercy Christmas is what it's all about. It is about God's tenderness for us and our tenderness for God. Let us realize that nothing will ever prevent God from loving us, forgiving us and showing us His mercy. Pope Francis said recently in an interview with Credere the official weekly magazine for the Year of Mercy, "The revolution of tenderness is what we must cultivate today as the fruit of the Year of Mercy." We can be the most wealthy and prominent person in the world, but if we do not experience this, we really have nothing. Let us open our hearts to God's tenderness and likewise share the tenderness with each other. It is the revolution of tenderness which we celebrate at Christmas. A very Mercy Christmas to all!
Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito
December 18, 2015
