22 December.

4th Sunday of Advent

I would like to reflect on two aspects of today's Gospel: the "God is with us" and the silence, the silence
of Mary and Joseph

What does that name mean to you: Emmanuel-God with us? God with us means that God left his house in
heaven and came to live with us. He moved from heaven to earth and brought all the graces of Heaven so
that you and I could enjoy and feel God closer to us.
But, I get a question: How can we celebrate the mystery of a «God made man», of «God is with us» as a
society that lives practically turned away from God, one that destroys the dignity of the human being in so
many ways?

There’s a question that hits me every year from the time I start to observe on the streets the preparations
that announce the coming of Christmas: What could still be true at the root of those celebrations so
spoiled by consumer interest and our own mediocrity?
I’m not alone. I hear many people talk about the superficiality of Christmas, of the loss of its family and
hearth character, of the embarrassing manipulation of the religious symbols and of so many excesses and
absurdities that today damage Christmas. Even worse, our Christian symbols are offensive to many
people. A Nativity scene in a mall or park is rude or disrespectful to other people. But as I see it, the
problem is much deeper.
How can we celebrate «the birth of God» as a society current day indifference? We live in a society
where God ceased to be "God is with us" to be a "God outside of us", or a "God ignored by us"

It seems that there are all too many people for whom it’s all the same whether to believe or not, to hear
that «God has died» or that «God has been born». Their lives continue functioning just like always. They
don’t seem to need God anymore.

And yet, contemporary history obliges us at this point to raise some serious questions. Not so long ago
there was the talk of «the death of God»; today there’s the talk of «the death of humanity». A few years
ago they were proclaiming “the disappearance of God”; today is announced «the disappearance of
humanity». Could it be that the death of God is linked inevitably to the death of humanity?
When God is thrown out of our lives, and we are surrounded by a world created by ourselves, one which
reflects only our own contradictions and miseries, who can say to us who we are and what it is that we
truly want?

Don’t we need God to be born among us once again, a new light that springs forth in our consciences, a
path opened up in the midst of our conflicts and contradictions? In order to meet up with that God, you
don’t need to go too far. It’s enough to come close in silence to our own selves. It’s enough to dive deep
into our questioning and our deepest yearnings. Just like Mary and Joseph who silently contemplate the
presence of God in their lives. According to the Gospel of Matthew, neither Joseph nor Mary say a word.

This is the message of Christmas: God is near you, right where you are, all you need do is open yourself
to God’s Mystery. The inaccessible God has become human and God’s mysterious nearness envelopes us.
In each one of us, God can be born.