The season I love the most - Christmas the most joyous time of the year is just a few weeks away! As the holy season of Advent began, I realized very consciously this year how our hearts should be prepared as we await our Saviour - Jesus who is Divine Love! Is it not a pity that for some reason, it is often only during the season of Christmas that many of us including me, feel a greater openness in our hearts to bring Christ's Hope, Peace, Joy and Love into the lives of others - within our families, friends and when we reach out to the poor, the sick and the marginalized.
I was listening to the beautiful and heart-touching song above "GIVE THIS CHRISTMAS AWAY" by Matthew West (with Amy Grant) and it was truly enlightening and uplifting. Let us make this Christmas a very special one...in a time when there is so much violence, hate and killings around the world, let each of us who are children of God fight back with a Revolution of Divine Love! Jesus - we know Him as Son of God, our Lord, Our Saviour, our Messiah, our Redeemer, our Good Shepherd and so forth. I have been meditating about what Christmas should really mean to me. I began praying for Jesus to speak to my heart about how to celebrate Christmas the way He would want me to.
Jesus our Divine Love! Whenever I picture Jesus in my mind and heart, it is always of the image of Jesus that we have in Divine Retreat Centre. From my very first retreat in Divine in 1998, I distinctly remember the joyful peace I felt in my heart just gazing intently at Jesus with His welcoming arms held high in open joyous welcome and the beautiful, gentle look on His Face. I was mentally, physically and spiritually drained at that time though I did not realize it. I was totally focussed on my career and the only time I had for Jesus was at the Sunday mass where my attention was on everything else but the homily and the reverent worship I should have had for the Eucharistic Celebration. I just felt exhausted until Jesus revealed the greatness of His Love for me and for every person born on this earth. And to think when I first went to Divine Retreat Centre with my mother, we did not even know it was a retreat centre! Until today, I know that was most life-transforming week of my life...finding out personally that Jesus loves me as I am. the How dry and parched my soul was for the Holy Spirit to fill me and the Word of God to enrich me! This is what I hear constantly from many retreatants at the end of their Divine retreat - they feel so uplifted, unburdened and the joy of experiencing Jesus' Love personally is written all over their faces and in the spring in their steps! Life will never be the same for they have a personal God-experience to treasure in their lives. What can we do for this vibrant Divine Love to burn brightly in our hearts so that it will shine through us every day and not just during Christmas?
Many of us have heard one of the most well-known bible verses, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everybody who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life." (John 3:16) This is the greatest Christmas gift God our Father has given to each of us ...to you and to me. Hallelujah! Yet how often do we realize the magnitude of this amazing Promise of God to each of us? I should be celebrating every day of my life in great joy because I have God's Promise of eternal life! Yet I am the first to admit that I often forget of this greatest priceless gift from God. In my daily life, I get irritated, anxious, worried, upset, sad and a variety of other negative emotions at loved ones, friends, colleagues or of wars and violence happening in the world. A number of people have expressed their worry to me that the world was ending and they were afraid as they asked me, "How do we explain why is God allowing all this to happen?" I do not know if any one has the answer that will satisfy every person. For me. I too felt that evil seemed so prevalent in recent years. What can I, a very ordinary Catholic do? What could all of us do this Christmas to make a REAL difference in our world?
As I was reflecting what Word of God that Jesus would most want me to share on this blogpost for Christmas, these are the sacred words my eyes fell upon - "'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with Me. I will give the victor the right to sit with Me on My throne, as I myself first won the victory to sit with My Father on His throne. Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" (Revelations 3:20-22)
This Word of God says it all. Let us truly open our hearts and our lives to Jesus not only for this Christmas but for every day of our lives! When Divine Love is in our hearts and we share it with everyone else around us, we can change the world to be a better place. The CHANGE begins with me. That is how we can spearhead the Revolution of Divine Love - who Jesus is all about - within our own communities this Christmas. It is time to put aside our judgmental views and attitudes and to put on the mind and attitude of Christ. How can we do this? St. Paul teaches us how to - "Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may become blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life." (Philippians 2:14-16) It all begins with our hearts being born again with the humility of Baby Jesus who was born in a broken down manger and wrapped in swaddling cloths. In the weekly Divine retreat, Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C., Director of Divine Retreat Centre, shares in one of his homilies, "To be a true disciple of Jesus, it is not enough that we hear the Word of God, we must live the Word of God. To do this we must pray and wait upon our Lord to show us the way we are to live." I never ever tire of hearing these words because each time I listen to this homily, my heart's resolve is strengthened as well as my zeal to live for Christ. Perhaps I need this weekly reminder to keep me on the right track. :)
Let us rejoice with our family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and communities of different races and religions the Joy, Hope & Peace of Christmas - that began when Divine Love came down to earth. The world is our family in Christ for we are only pilgrims on this earth. We are citizens of Heaven!
We need to joyously share the blessings we have with our fellow brothers and sisters who are in much greater need - who are marginalized and who are voiceless in their struggles. When we give Christmas away, Jesus our source of Divine Love will fill our hearts with an over-abundance of His Love. Our hearts (and our bank accounts) will never run dry when we share what the Heart of Christmas is all about.
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| My Mum and her two eldest grandchildren :) |
Let Christmas not be just a season to celebrate but rather may the Spirit of Christmas live in our hearts always...so that we can give it away each day!
My Christmas wish for my family, friends, readers of this post and all people of goodwill is that the Heart of Christmas - Jesus our Divine Love - will make each of us
His "shining stars on earth" bringing Hope, Peace & Joy to the world each day!
