By Sister Lauretta
Many very inspiring words have been written on the theme of Christmas. As we approach Christmas let’s look at some of the thoughts Msgr. Charles Pope shared with his readers in a recent writing. He concentrated on one line that he used to reflect on God’s humble and abiding love for each of us. He suggests that we meditate on it during these Advent days. The line is: “There was no room in the inn.”
Pope begins his writing with these introductory words, “There was a knock at midnight that was greeted by the words: No room here.” He goes on to write about the conditions into which Jesus came. We are told that it was a cold night — cold in terms of air temperature, but more so cold in the hearts of the people. The only warmth was in the manger with the animals and from a few visitors. Pope tells us that God stooped low to come from the heaven to this cold world. Mary’s time had come and Pope reminds us that God could have come down on a lightning bolt, but rather, he came to the lowest place, quietly, non-violently, humbly as an infant. But there was no room for him! God didn’t fit. Even today there are times when God doesn’t fit into our agendas, our plans, our priorities. No room! Scripture says: “He came to those who were his own, but his own did not receive him.” That story repeated itself throughout history. Scripture frequently demonstrates that there was little or no room for God in the hearts of many. But God didn’t give up on us. He kept on knocking.
There was a little boy who was to play the part of the innkeeper in his church play. Each time at rehearsal, when it came time for him to tell Joseph and Mary that there was no room in the room, he just couldn’t say the lines. The director asked him why he was having so much trouble. “I just can’t send Jesus away. He can have my room.”
So, now we are looking toward Christmas and, at this time, we must listen and be prepared for the knock at our door. Jesus asks us to find him in the lowly places of our own life. He asks us to keep an open door and give him room to enter. He is coming with a present. Christmas is the night of the Gift and Jesus stoops low to give us a priceless gift: the power to live as children loved deeply by God. So there will be a knock on our door. Is there room in our heart, our home, our life with and for others? Can we open wide the door to let God in completely and unreservedly this Christmas and in the days of the new year? How will we carry the gift of Christ that we receive to our brothers and sisters?