Christmas – which lasted until the Feast of the Epiphany on Sunday, Jan. 7 – is about Jesus, in his divine beauty and goodness, coming to save us. Not only to save the whole world, but to save each one of us in particular. The devil, meanwhile, tries to make us believe that we are the exception to the rule of "I came to give life, and give it to the full." He wants us to think that we don’t matter to the infant savior and his mother.
Everyone absolutely needs to know that their life is important. It’s not even about equality. Some people are much better than me. That’s OK because there is plenty of love to go around. In fact, the people which are less presentable and less honorable are – as scripture says – surrounded with all the more honor, so that we may be fully united with everyone. Near the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, all the forces of good bow before the three little hobbits who helped save the world. We can be like them, with baby Jesus’ help.
Perhaps our deepest fear is that we simply don’t matter or are ultimately excluded as unlovable, or that we don’t contribute to the world. But Jesus said that the kingdom belongs to those who are like infants and little children. Little children often need diaper changes (which are like being absolved of our sins in confession) and may seem to contribute little to the world. Yet in God’s sight they are extremely valuable.
Often we forget that humanity is one large family, all descended genetically and personally from the same two people, and all with the same father, the same brotherly king, and the same blessed Mother. It’s true that we have to be careful with strangers. But they – along with people we don’t feel good around – are still family. We are all interconnected and we all have a crucial role in helping every other person through our works of love.
When we have experiences with transcendence, we sense a love and divine beauty which is all-embracing, all-uniting. In the film, "The Shawshank Redemption," prisoners are lifted from their misery when Andy Dufrane plays a Mozart opera over the intercom. Andy’s friend, Red, says those Italian ladies were singing about something so beautiful it can’t be expressed in words, and which made every last man feel free.
Let’s take this time of year to listen not to the evil and negative devil, but to draw close to the infinite beauty of baby Jesus with the inexpressibly beautiful and pure virgin Mary, our mother. He thirsts for us and misses us more than we know.