g, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?"
It makes us think of what it would have been like to see Jesus on the cross, and
to stand along with Mary, St. Joh
n, and the others on the first Good
Friday. It is, indeed, one of the most moving of Christian hymns, particularly
because the answer to the question is "Yes." We were there, because He
died for us, and our sins were on His shoulders. We are there, as He
renews that very sacrifice on our altars each day at Mass, and we freely unite
our own sacrifices with His.
What about Christmas? What if we sang, "Were you there when the King of Kings
was born?" Nativity scenes, and the meditations which spiritual writers provide
us about that first Christmas, help us enter in to the drama and meaning of that
event.
Our Holy Father has indicated to us that there is indeed a way to be there
at the first Christmas, too. He writes the following in his encyclical The
Gospel of Life:
"At the dawn of salvation, it is the Birth of a Child which is proclaimed as
joyful news: "I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the
people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ
the Lord" (Lk 2:10-11). The source of this "great joy" is the Birth of the
Savior; but Christmas also reveals the full meaning of every human birth, and
the joy which accompanies the Birth of the Messiah is thus seen to be the
foundation and fulfillment of joy at every child born into the world (cf. Jn
16:21)" (EV, 1).
The Pope links here the birth of Jesus Christ with the birth of every child,
and he does so on the level of meaning and joy.
"Christmas … reveals the full meaning of every human birth." Christmas is God
joining Himself to us, giving Himself to us -- in fact, marrying us.
That also is why each human person comes into the world. The meaning of life is
to give and receive love; to give ourselves to God and one another; to achieve
the union with God -- in this life and the next -- which is the very purpose of
our existence.
The joy of Jesus' birth is "the foundation and fulfillment of joy at every
child born into the world." God did not have to come to us, nor did He have to
create us. But in fact He does both. Each life, like Christmas itself, is a sign
of God's love, a sign that God has not given up on the world, a sign that He
keeps giving us a chance. Each life, no matter how limited, is a reflection of
the glory of God, as the Word made Flesh is the perfect
