Christ is Born! These are precious days in the liturgical year—days that are “always new” because the manifestation of the glory of God’s love in the Child Jesus is an inexhaustible event. God has drawn close to us, irrevocably. He informs all of our colorful, earthy (even kitsch-y) Christmas traditions of color and lights, cookies and sweets, presents and “good cheer” (which endeavors to visit us a little even in the midst of burdens and suffering); He brings His goodness into the smallness of our human ways.
The “Baby Jesus” statue under our tree is the same one as our kids used to hold for pictures when they were little. The collage below the current picture of the baby Jesus takes us back to Christmas 2005, almost 20 years ago, with John Paul, Agnese, Lucia, and Teresa as little kids. Jojo is not there because she didn’t exist yet. The miracle of Josefina was still in the future, as were many other “miracles”—a hundredfold of gifts were yet to come (as was no small amount of suffering).
The statue of the Baby Jesus is a sign of the greatest gift, the all-encompassing gift of God’s redeeming love. The gift of His merciful love endures forever. And the statue has endured (with only one major repair job) through the years of our family history.
