Editorial - Christmas has an edge to it
26.11.2009
Fr Pat O’Shea made a comment to me that ‘the Christmas Gospel stories have an edge to them.’ I read again Sts Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ.
He is right, edginess abounds: the anxiety of Joseph, betrothed to Mary who is pregnant; Mary’s concern over the visit of the angel Gabriel and what it involved; the journey to Bethlehem for a woman close to giving birth with no available accommodation in the town; the massacre of children on Herod’s orders; the flight into Egypt when fear would have been a constant travelling companion. Finally, Mary hears her son will be rejected (whatever that meant) and her own heart would be pierced with sorrow.
People have a deeply held belief that bad things should not happen to good people because they are good people. Sts Matthew and Luke dispel that illusion - bad things happen to the best of people. Yet the presence of the Holy Spirit shines through the Christmas drama, guiding and protecting this precious family. God is present there, always present.
Fr Gary Walker
TFE@columban.org.au
Click here to read other editorials written by Fr Gary Walker
