Innocence Triumphs

Christmas 2010

A few years back, I happened to notice in a recently paved driveway a tiny plant whose stem had emerged through the concrete, ready to open its leaves for the first time, and to continue on with its development. The seed was tiny, fragile, without much hope of new life, yet it managed to push through. Its force was gentle, but nothing in the end could oppose it. This surprised me, but such things are not unusual. You can go on the web and find many explanations of how this can happen.

The mystery we celebrate today is the entry of God’s Son into our world. He could have come in power and majesty, striking fear and awe into our hearts. But he chose another way. He began in the utter fragility and dependence of new human life developing within a mother’s womb, unable to speak, to care for itself. He continued as the new born child, unable to make his needs known except through crying, needing constant protection and nurturing. But already in that state he was changing human hearts. Infants are weak, helpless, totally innocent, and they pull at our heartstrings. We want to reach out to them, to cuddle them, to hold them, to protect them. The attraction is genuine: we are not being manipulated, seduced, conned. We see a small child and what is beautiful and loving and true in the child reaches out to our heart. They are full of an amazing potential which we will never fathom. This was true of the infant Jesus.

The big difference between this newborn and all the rest of us who have come into the world as he did is that his innocence continues on, but we eventually lose ours. We are caught up in the sin of the world, he takes it away. The struggles of life in an uncertain world take hold of us, and we develop various ways to cope, many of them unhealthy. Our innocence is tarnished and taken from us. Innocence is a power we cannot exercise as Jesus did throughout his entire life. He paid a terrible price for doing so, because innocence cannot coexist with the world in which he lived and we live today, full of fear and violence and accusation. But his innocence, his vulnerability, prevailed. Like the fragile seed that pushes through the concrete, he overcame terrible obstacles during his earthly career, and the power of the Love which inhabited him prevailed. He bore fruit, fruit that would last, fruit that we draw on for nourishment and strength even today.

His ultimate victory we will recall later on in our liturgical calendar, but for now let us simply allow ourselves to be like the shepherds who came to see Jesus. They were simple men who remained with their sheep day and night watching over them. Their lives were not complicated with the need for power and wealth and advancement. They acted simply and directly. They heard the message of the angel, and hastened to visit their new-born Saviour. And what they experienced in their visit made them feel at home. They did not enter into a palace with impressive architecture and beautiful art-work and perfume wafting through the air. They did not enter into an awe inspiring sanctuary with mysterious chanting and incense. They did not enter into a library with many many books containing all the knowledge of the world. No, they entered a stable. They knew the odors emanating from the animals already there, because they too looked after animals. Indeed they probably contributed to the odor. The main difference that instead of food in the manger for the hungry animals, they found a newly born infant wrapped in swaddling clothes lying there. Instead of eating, these animals were looking on and with their breath warmed the new born infant needing protection from the cold. And, who knows, maybe some sheep came with the shepherds, filling out the scene and bringing their own warmth as well.

At the centre of the scene was the new born child. To worship him, they did not need him to be washed clean, dressed in sumptuous clothing and anointed. The mystery of new life, of vulnerability, of innocence was enough. It totally caught their attention and won them over. Instinctively they sensed that what they saw in the manger was the beginning of a totally new life for humanity, a life based on vulnerability and openness and love, stronger than any obstacle this world was able to throw in its face. They yearned for salvation, and they instinctively knew that the path to salvation passed through this infant. They were able to repeat to their friends the song which the angels taught them: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those he favours.”

What does it mean for us today to repeat this same song, as we already have done: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth”?

We live in a world marked by many struggles: economic, cultural, social, religious. Our families are scarred by these struggles in various ways, with sufferings, tensions, anxieties. But we also find within our families love and peace and joy. Within them we can be ourselves and be vulnerable to one another. Once again at Christmas the face of innocence shows itself, especially in our younger children and grand-children. And this is one of the joys of St. Patrick’s, which recently has been the chosen place for many baptisms, and which welcomes little children and their families. They love to run around the Church after mass, feeling at home, protected, secure. Many of the struggles of life are ahead of them. Let us for a blessed moment share the gift they have, finding in it strength and hope, knowing that the seed of new life has been sown in our world and in our hearts, and that it will in the end overcome all the obstacles put in its way. A blessed Christmas to all of you. May you find in the Christ-child and in one another comfort and joy.