As we approach the
Christmas season, I can’t help but recall some of my favorite memories from
this time of year. I think of those snowy days in December when my siblings and
I would zoom down white hills on our plastic sleds. I remember waiting with
great anticipation for Santa Claus to come with mountains of gifts. My mouth
waters as I think about the smells and tastes of my grandmother’s Cuban dishes
prepared on Christmas Eve. Those cold, dark days of December were softened by
the glow of Christmas lights in our neighborhood and the warmth of our family’s
home. As fun and as beautiful as these memories are, however, they do not fully
reflect the true meaning and significance of this approaching Christmas season.
As I read and pray with
the Nativity of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Luke, I come to realize the
very radical nature of the Incarnation. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God,
left his proper place at the right hand of God the Father in order to fully
assume our human nature as a small, helpless, and fragile child. Jesus’ very
conception occurred in unusual circumstances: an unwed, Spirit-filled mother,
ponderings of divorce, dreams and visions, acts of trust and faith. Jesus was
not born as a wealthy or powerful Roman, but he chose to be born into a poor
and powerless Jewish family. Jesus was born a stranger in a damp and dirty cave
amidst oxen and cattle.
We continue to see the
radical nature of the Incarnation in the announcement of the angels to the
shepherds! Shepherds were societal outcasts who existed on the margins of
society as landless workers. They were tasked with herding unintelligent,
smelly animals. It was precisely to these shepherds that the heavenly host of
angels declare the birth of the Savior! The birth of Jesus inaugurates his
life’s mission of restoring all people, particularly the marginalized, to new
life in God.
While I’ll always hold
onto and cherish those dear Christmas memories from my childhood, I recognize
that the true meaning of Christmas is much more challenging! As a baptized
disciple of Jesus Christ, I am called to identify myself with the Incarnate One
who chose to be born poor, powerless, and vulnerable. The entire life of Christ
– from his birth to his death – was one of mercy, compassion and constant
selflessness. This kenotic, self-emptying love is to be the hallmark of all who
claim to be followers of Jesus. My life as a Christian, then, also compels me
to be like those angels on that first Christmas night, to find the outcasts on
the margins of society and proclaim to them the Good News that Christ has been
born to free us from sin and restore us to God’s life and friendship!
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Ryan Glenn, a seminarian for the Diocese of Scranton, completed Theology III at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland.
During the 2016-17 year, Ryan will reside and minister at St. Matthew’s Parish in East Stroudsburg, PA.
There, he will continue to pray and discern his vocational calling. Ryan will also be involved in multiple parish ministries, including Catholic Campus Ministry at East Stroudsburg University.