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‘Jesus Christ is born to all Creation’
Archbishop Peter Chong’s 2018 Christmas Message
Christian tradition celebrates Christmas as the birth of Jesus to Mary. Christian faith holds that Jesus is both human and divine. Hence, Christians gave Jesus the titles, The Christ, Lord, Messiah, and Son of God. For Christians, Jesus Christ is the medium of God’s revelation to the world. In other words, Christians come to know God through Jesus Christ. Jesus reveals God to Christians. Jesus’ life, teachings, healings, suffering, death and resurrection revealed to the early Christians God’s salvation.
The question that our world faces today is not about the existence of God but rather, how God and our faith can save our Mother Earth and human suffering. Pope Francis calls us to hear the cry of Mother Earth and the cry of the poor. The question for Christians during this Christmas season is: How does Christmas help us to see Jesus in the cry of the Mother Earth and the cry of the poor?
The Cosmic Christ
It is interesting that the early Christian communities saw Jesus in a universal and even cosmic context. Mathew’s gospel places the story of Jesus back to Abraham, father of the Hebrew people. Luke gospel places Jesus in the entire history of humankind, beginning with Adam. John’s gospel traces the origins of Jesus the Christ into the very mystery of God:
“In the beginning was the word … the Word was God … and the Word was flesh.” In the Year 50 AD when Paul wrote the first letter to the Corinthians, (before the gospels were written) he said that belief in Jesus Christ has to do with the mystery of creation: “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and through whom we exist.” (1Cor. 8:6)
It is interesting that the early Christian communities saw Jesus in a universal and even cosmic context. Mathew’s gospel places the story of Jesus back to Abraham, father of the Hebrew people. Luke gospel places Jesus in the entire history of humankind, beginning with Adam. John’s gospel traces the origins of Jesus the Christ into the very mystery of God:
“In the beginning was the word … the Word was God … and the Word was flesh.” In the Year 50 AD when Paul wrote the first letter to the Corinthians, (before the gospels were written) he said that belief in Jesus Christ has to do with the mystery of creation: “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and through whom we exist.” (1Cor. 8:6)
Paul’s letter to the Colossians states that Jesus Christ is the center and source of all creation:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col 1:15-17)
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col 1:15-17)
Pope Francis in his letter to the world, ‘Care for Our Common Home, Laudato Si” also teaches the cosmic presence of Jesus Christ: “The ultimate destiny of the universe is in the fullness of God, and this has already been obtained by the risen Christ, the measure of the maturity of all things.’ (Laudato Si, 83). Christ has taken unto himself this material world and now, risen, is intimately present to each being, surrounding it with his affection and penetrating it with his light.” (ibid; 100, 221)
While Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, it also tells us that the Christ, the Word of God is born into to the whole of humanity and creation. Christmas calls us to see Jesus beyond the crib in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. Christmas impels us to see Jesus in the whole creation and to work with the breath of God that is renewing the face of the earth. Our Christmas celebration should help us to see Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh in humankind and planted in the flesh of the earth. Christmas draws us into the heart of humanity and the heart of creation. Christmas therefore is not only for Christians but for all who share this common home, Mother Earth. Christmas is a time to care for others and our Mother Earth.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I take this time to sincerely thank you for your support and prayers for the Archdiocese of Suva’s pastoral mission. I wish you all a ‘Green Christmas’; eat less or no meat, plant more trees, and protect our Mother Earth.
Yours sincerely in Christ
Archbishop Peter Chong
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