Praying with Evangelii Gaudium, Day 11: Holiday reflections

On this night, like a burst of brilliant light, there rings out the proclamation of the Apostle:“God's grace has been revealed, and it has made salvation possible for the whole human race”(Tit 2:11). 
                                                                                Pope Francis homily during the Christmas eve Mass

 A Happy and blessed Christmas season to  all!!
 I originally was hoping to do this morning's  blog entry on the Pope's Christmas message, which was also very prayerful and beautiful ( I prayed with it on Christmas morning). There's a lot of reasons why I opted not to in the end, but the main one is that Evangelii Gaudium really is proving to be a great tool of meditation on this season's themes of joy, hope, and renewal. So why interrupt this meditation!!

 One theme I was meditating with this week is power. Someone who does not know the Christian story, when they hear about Jesus's birth we celebrate every year, may conclude that such a majestic man with such a divine origin ' must have been a powerfull baby'. How thrown off they would be when we tell them that no, he wasn't...at least, not in the way we could imagine or predict. God's power is not supposed to be something we can predict.(EG 22). After all, the Strength of God lays not in the human form he chose to take, but in the seed Jesus gave the world. I love how Francis describes the power of that seed, the Word of God planted in us: He describes it as something that will ' surpass our calculations and ways of thinking'.  (EG 22)  I think this sentiment is why so many Christians carry so much  hope within them. Our prayers, our life of faith may not accomplish exactly what we intend, but we understand that they may also achieve far more than we could ever expect.
 
  I think this is the  main reason why Pope Francis reiterates the importance of going forth and preaching the Gospel to all people and places without hesitation, reluctance or fear. (EG 23) We need people that will carry this seed, this Word of God to every corner of their lives, because we know that the joy of the Gospel is intended for everyone, that no one is excluded from it.(EG 23) This evangelical message makes sense: Knowing how much joy and hope this season and everything that comes with it brings, why would we want to keep this to ourselves, in the comfort of our quiet and warm little homes? It's said that even the Shepherds who were not learned men, not formed to preach the Gospel, went out into the world after their encounter with the holy family, to tell the greatest story ever told to all the peoples of the land.

 But before they set out to do this, they had to process the story.  We can just picture this group of shepherds, the first group to hear about the coming of the Messiah,  standing still before this miracle, imbibing in the radiance of their savior,  letting that peace, joy and hope fill their hearts. As I've mentioned before in this blog, I believe this is the first step of evangelization for all of us. We contemplate, and pray over the truths that God gives us, and allow ourselves to be converted by them. We are indeed called to that conversion every day of our life, but the call seems to much more strong during the holidays, when we see what the spirit of good cheer does to people (  It's safe to say  that there is there's a lot more goodness going around out there than we the good happy stories our media and social media talk about!!).  As Pope Francis might ask...if we expect this much good to be spread around during the holidays...why not all year long!!

 Why not indeed!



22. God’s word is unpredictable in its power. The Gospel speaks of a seed which, once sown, grows by itself, even as the farmer sleeps (Mk 4:26-29). The Church has to accept this unruly freedom of the word, which accomplishes what it wills in ways that surpass our calculations and ways of thinking.

23. The Church’s closeness to Jesus is part of a common journey; “communion and mission are profoundly 

interconnected”.[20] In fidelity to the example of the Master, it is vitally important for the Church today to go forth and preach the Gospel to all: to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluctance or fear. The joy of the Gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded. That is what the angel proclaimed to the shepherds in Bethlehem: “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people (Lk 2:10). The Book of Revelation speaks of “an eternal Gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tongue and tribe and people (Rev 14:6).