In the midst of all
the pageantries and tradition that comes with the yuletide season, we
are often led to believe that Christmas is a time of joy and
celebration with our loved ones.
It is.
But to one must
remember that, such wasn't the case in 1st century CE in
Roman Judea.
Once Jesus was born
and after the shepherds, then the wise men have left, there was only
the impulse to flee.
King Herod orders
the execution of all young male children in the village of
Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn "King
of the Jews".
In an ironic twist
of faith the so-called Savior flees with his parents to their
salvation from the oppressive hands of the State.
The Christmas story
would not be complete if we exclude the story of the innocents
massacred by Herod1
as Jesus, Joseph and Mary made their way to Egypt –as refugees.
It's possible that we forget
this story, because it doesn't fit in with the motif that we have
been accustomed to because the State, the Church, the corporations,
the establishment and the powers-that-be who benefit from the status quo chose to paint us an incomplete picture –one that is: safe. Unchallenging. Reactionary.
Because for us to see otherwise would mean the turning of tables and
the shifting of power.
The great irony of
the Christmas drama is that Christ was born so that he could die.
We try to romanticize it by saying that it was a mission --a part of
a divine drama that will unfold, where Jesus dies for his ungrateful
creation.
The space in between
Jesus' birth and death presents us with narratives that challenges us
to rise up and make a difference by proclaiming freedom for the
oppressed2,
turning the other cheek3
and loving our neighbor as our selves4–to
bring hope.
How do we become
hope incarnate in the midst of violence at a time when the poor
suffer, when tenderness and life burned out of them5?
Should we be content
in preaching heaven? In praying away our sufferings? Or should we
take sides and declare that a better world is possible?
The gospel challenges us to struggle with the oppressed in realizing justice by refusing to treat evil as an acceptable part of a larger harmonious vision ---that is to live in constant anxiety with nothing but faith in the One who said that whatever we have done for the least has cosmic significance6.
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1Matthew
2:16-18
2Luke
4:18
3Matthew
5:38-40
4Matthew
22:39
5A
line I borrowed from Otto Rene Castillo's Apolitical Intellectuals
6Matthew
25:40
