A woman, whose husband died six months before Christmas, sat down to write a Christmas card to a close friend. She wrote, “Some say to me, ‘This first Christmas without your husband will be hard for you.’ It will be, of course. But without Christmas, my life would be impossible.”
At the time of her husband’s death, that woman thought that God had turned out the light. But then came the Christmas Message of hope to remind her that God had reached out and turned on the light for all time and for all people.
As Christmas draws near, we focus on the Historical Jesus. We think about Jesus coming into the world at a specific time in a specific place. We think of that child of poverty, born in a stable amidst the warm breath of cattle and sheep. We think of the Holy Family, and heavenly choirs and adoring shepherds. For a brief moment, our Christmas thoughts are a welcome relief from the incessant news of violence and betrayal. And we look forward to a joyous celebration of the birth that turned on the light of life, and radically changed the course of history.
Since this great feast of Christmas is about a birth, there are two things we should observe. First, pregnancy and birth are wondrous and mysterious. And second: any birth takes time.
Keep in mind, there is only one creator—God. By the act of conception what we humans are doing is co-operating with God. God is the author of all life; it is God who brings about the great mystery of the birth of a child into the world, an act of creation.
We owe our whole lives to God. If he lapsed in his attention for us for one minute we would cease to be. So God is both the creator and the sustainer of all life. The gift of our life is an act of love on his part —that out of nothing and for no reason other than love he brought us into being.
There are many sophisticated methods of contraception, including the so-called morning-after pill. Abortion is taken for granted and some groups even believe that it is irresponsible not to abort a handicapped child.
All these things undermine the sacredness of life. Yet life is sacred because, only God can create life. Perhaps one of the most crucial questions we have to ask today is the most basic question of all —when does life begin?
If we are to look to scripture for an answer we need look no further than the account of the Annunciation. The Angel Gabriel said to Mary: “You will conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.” Conception is a sacred moment that marks the beginning of life.
Luke tells us that after the angel’s visit, Mary set out in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth. The trip likely took almost a week. The young woman was pregnant about ten days when she arrived at her cousin’s home in the village of Ein Karem.
Did Mary believe she was pregnant? Yes. She had said to the angel, “Be it done according to your word.” But without any physical proof of her pregnancy, she must have wondered whether as a virgin if she had truly conceived.
We assume Mary went to help her older pregnant cousin. Another reason may have been to see if Elizabeth was really pregnant as the angel had said. If so, then the angel could be trusted as an authentic messenger from God. And she herself would indeed be expecting a child, even though she was a virgin.
Mary reaches her cousin’s home and sees that at six months, Elizabeth is obviously pregnant. Mary concludes then she too is pregnant. But Elizabeth had not been told of her Mary’s pregnancy, yet Elizabeth impulsively shouts, “Blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why am I being honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord?”
At the time, Jesus was hardly the size of a pinhead and had just been implanted into Mary’s womb. Yet, Elizabeth was moved by the Holy Spirit to call Him “my Lord.”
Mary was not carrying a personless embryo. Elizabeth was inspired to realize that Mary was already carrying the person of the God-Man Jesus. But the story is not done. Elizabeth then said, “For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.” Her baby would be known to history as John the Baptist.
Thus, John, himself already a person, doesn’t salute a ten day old personless embryo but another genuine person. What is today’s Gospel telling us through Elizabeth and her unborn son John? Human life is present in every mother’s womb from the moment of conception.
Yes, Christmas will be hard for those who lost loved ones in the past year, especially a child unexpectedly, yet God hasn’t turned out the light for them. We have whenever we fail to respect human life from the womb to the tomb. As we anticipate his coming, we can keep the light of Christmas bright in the lives of all we encounter by treating them with compassion, respect, love and forgiveness, rather than vengeance, revenge and mistrust. Like Mary, we carry the mysterious power of God’s life within us, which enables us to be a source of hope and delight to others whenever we endeavor to love tenderly, act justly, and walk humbly in the sight of God.