Special thanks to the church decorators as this is one of the best I have ever seen. It gets better every year. It adds a distinctive flavor to the flora and fiona. Christmas icon, including the aura and smells of the season, are important features of the season. In the art, we see a glimpse of God, a preview of divinity, and the mystery behind it.

Two weeks ago, while I was in the sacristy waiting and preparing for the few words I was going to say in Spanish, Fr Marco dropped by and wondered how I came up with the idea of advent lighting along with the presence of religious education program families, relatives and friends and sing Christmas carols in the early part of advent. A two-minute Spanish presentation before a crowd of over a hundred enthusiastic parishioners mostly kids and youth consumed my humanity. Yes, there is a translator but still I have to look at the translation and own it.

This was something he never saw in any parish in the States, let alone in the world. This is not a regular custom, tradition or practice. That’s true. No parish does this. Where did you get this? It’s biblical and worth quoting the prophet Isaiah’s words, “On that day, the people of God will stream to God’s holy mountain led by a child”. Kids lead us to the Lord.

At each stage in history, people came up with various ways of depicting Christmas in and out of the scriptures. Amidst the modern-day glamour of the Nativity Scene, including extra biblical characters there was nothing spectacular in the original nativity scene taking place in a cave, in a stable with the Blessed Mother fresh from giving birth (those who gave birth know what it meant) and the helpless infant born in a manger lying in the crib wrapped with nothing but swaddling clothes. No one was there except the three of them. They were denied accommodation.

St. Luke has something in the manger, excusive only for St Luke, there were chocolates in the manger. How did these goodies end up in the scene is subject for serious study and research in the next 365 days.

And yet, this is how God conquered humanity, not through violence or armed struggle but the helplessness of an infant to remove the veil of inhibition and embarrassment. No human being should feel aloof and indifferent to an infant, let alone to the God who became one of us. If we adults cannot even say hi and hello and smile to infants, I believe something is wrong.

The goal and purpose of Christmas, of the incarnation of the Son of God, of God becoming man is the divinization of humanity that is, man becoming God, which is undeniably, complex. As complicated as it is, there is only one way. And the path to becoming like God is only attained by mankind’s self-emptying, self-abasement, self denial in imitation of Christ, who though he was rich he became poor.

This is the wondrous exchange between God and man. As we sit down at tables, share meals, and later, unwrap gifts, desirable or not, we are One in the central mystery of the Christmas icon, the radiant and brilliant lights in and of the church, the unfading evergreen trees, poinsettias, the wreaths, etc.

Christmas is a feast of all feasts that is well celebrated and appreciated by religious and nonreligious alike. Even those who are not really into Catholicism that is, organized and institutionalized religion, faith, belief, worship and rituals go and/or make their way to church on Christmas. Here comes the crowd! It used to be, but times have changed. They could have gone straight to the party, enjoy the pleasures of the day and the company of like-minded people. But no, this feast of all feasts fascinates mankind despite the commercialism and the merry making associated with it perhaps because it fulfills the longings and desires of the people in ways we can’t possibly know and express in words.

Jesus Christ is the true light who came down /descended from heaven, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary and became man. The Christmas radiant lights perched on trees and hung on porches are only a reflection of that light, the true light.

God caught us off-guard in Jesus Christ by becoming man. To celebrate Christmas is equal to becoming Christian like children, the distinguishing feature of Catholic faith. We don’t come to God as adults even as adults. We don’t come to the Lord as elite, refined and clever. We come as children like the kids who performed at the Nativity play for us: pure, innocent, carefree, docile, rowdy, joyful, open and receptive. We learn Christmas, the birthday of life, as it were, from them.

In Jesus Christ, God is within reach or easy to reach. God is not out of coverage area. He is within calling distance or striking distance. He is constantly available and has time for us. Christmas is a feast of indescribable joy, of unsurpassed joy, full and complete. The basis of this joy is the word became flesh and dwelt among us.