The Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ

And now God says to us what he has already said to the world as a whole through his grace-filled birth: “I am there. I am with you. I am your life. I am your time. I am the gloom of your daily routine. Why will you not bear it? I weep your tears—pour out yours to me, my child. I am your joy. Do not be afraid to be happy, for ever since I wept, joy is the standard of living that is really more suitable that the anxiety of all your paths, for when you no longer know how to go any farther, then you have reached me, foolish child, though you are not aware of it. I am in your anxiety, for I have shared it by suffering it. And in doing so, I wasn’t even heroic according to the wisdom of the world. I am in the prison of your finiteness, for my love has made me your prisoner. When the totals of your plans and of your life’s experiences do not balance out evenly, I am the unsolved remainder. And I know that this remainder, which makes you so frantic, is in reality my love that you do not yet understand. I am present in your needs. I have suffered them and they are now transformed, but not obliterated from my heart…this reality—the incomprehensible wonder of my almighty love—I have sheltered safely and completely, in the cold stable of your world. I am there. I no longer go away from this world. Even if you do not see me, I am there.”

Karl Rahner, S.J.