Fra Angelico, The Nativity[1]
At the end of this calendar year, we transitioned from one liturgical cycle to a new one: we went from cycle B to cycle C, and thus, we began Advent. From the “sweet-penance-transitional-time” of Advent, we moved into Christmas: we went from penance and expectation to the joy of Christ’s birth. Today, Sunday, within the Octave of Christmas, the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, calling us to reflect on some core values and morals of human families. The Holy Family of Nazareth becomes a shining model for every Christian family in this journey of life.
The life of the Church, liturgical and sacramental, mirrors the stages we go through in life. It is a reminder that we are pilgrims; therefore, we ‘transition’; that is, we move constantly. Now, from an almost “365 days-old” calendar year, we are about to transition into the New Year. Isn’t this a reflection of life…? An ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, exaggerated change by saying that we cannot bath twice in the same river, meaning the flux and inconsistency of life, as if there was nothing permanent. We Christians recognize the ‘moving parts’ present in our existence and, at the same time, the firmness or solidity of our faith.
Pilgrims
We are pilgrims on earth with eyes set on the things of Heaven. Everything moves and changes in our existence, but there is something that stays, that remains always firm…We are the citizens of the ‘not yet’. Our pilgrimage on earth is always a flux, but our hope to get to the final destination is firm, and we pursue it with a holy stubbornness, or we should because we know that God does not change. As Hebrews 11:1 says in its definition of faith: Faith is the assurance of the things we do not see and substance of the things we hope for. In this wonderful citation both faith and hope are interwoven.
Through baptism and grace, we are viatores: we move, we walk, we desire to reach our final goal. Mary and Joseph are great examples of confident pilgrimage: a visit to Elizabeth, the flight to Egypt… Christmas Season is also a reminder of this spiritual condition: traveling to Jerusalem, stopping at Bethlehem, no certainty of what’s next. What is their reward in their ‘moving’ condition? It is the fulfilment of the prophecies in front of their eyes:
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9: 5
We cannot stop walking. We should not stop hoping. May this Christmas Season remind us of our spiritual reality as pilgrims who walk constantly the paths of the Lord, and the paths of holiness.
Merry Christmas to all! And happe New Year!
May the Lord bless you all,
Fr. Marcelo Javier Navarro Muñoz, IVE
Author: The Contribution of Cornelio Fabro to Fundamental Theology. Reason and Faith, Cambridge Scholars Publishing: https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-9315-2
Poesía Sacra, Quemar las Naves, and Desde Fossanova, IVE Press: https://ivepress.org/
[1] From https://www.thehistoryofart.org/fra-angelico/nativity/, accessed 26 December 2024.
[Readings: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14; Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17; Lk 2:41-52]
