A wink and a smile for unforgettable family and friends…
Christmas!
Mark and John did not want to imagine Jesus’ birth, but Matthew and Luke felt the need to evoke the tenderness of a birth. As the song says, “we can live without wealth, but not without tenderness…. We can live without glory, but not without tenderness…”
Let’s begin with the shepherds in Luke: there is not much to graze on in the surroundings of Bethlehem – Judea is not the green Galilee-, but there are sheep. It is a dark night and the shepherds keep an eye on their flocks. A few snow flakes… (we tend to forget that sometimes it snows in Palestine). Ask the people in Gaza: they will tell you it’s very cold! But on that night the angels were all agitated and some feathers were entangled with the light snow flakes. Then, the clouds opened up and the sky was brightly lit.
To wait in the night is to hope… Not very far from there, the inn was full. Only in the stable there is still some room. Jesus will be born there. Hay and straw, animal heat. Stables are always warm. Breath… silence… interrupted only by breathing and trembling.
The shepherds hear heavenly melodies: who visits Earth with so much tenderness?
Let’s go to the manger. Let’s put fresh straw… a child has been born for us!
But let’s not forget the Three Wise Men who will come a bit later… (Monsignor claims to have seen them going to Donostia!). They come from the Orient, at the sticky pace of their dromedaries. Here are their offerings for the new King of the world: gold, which is so bright and makes its owner powerful. Incense? Ah! It is divine for liturgies, and it smells so good. But the child coughs. Is it a mild allergy? As for myrrh, what a symbol! You will not need it, Jesus. You will be faster than embalmers will!
It is a beautiful Christmas crib. Let’s put some lights, some lanterns will come in very handy…. meanwhile, the sun rises…
Rose-Marie Barandiaran, on Christmas Eve 2020
Tanslated by Mertxe de Renobales Scheifler