One of the things I miss from my years in the Northern Hemisphere is the quiet Christmas. Snow on the ground tends to absorb sound making even the rumor of a passing car somewhat pleasant background noise. It is hard for northern people to imagine a summer Christmas or an autumn Easter. I remember someone (whose family hailed from Tirol) complaining about the unnatural feeling of having to seed their land while celebrating the harvest festival drinking beer produced six months prior. This upside down southern world should move us to think.
I was reading something about the latest advances in determining the shape of the Universe just a few hours ago. It seems that since the 1920’s the scientists keep finding that the universe is bigger and more complex than they thought. Satellites are launched deep into space only to find new areas to investigate. Every door they open leads to a number of new doors as they chase mystery after mystery. As I advanced in my reading I had a fleeting thought, a passing intuition about the size and power of God.
To whom then will you compare Me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because He is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.
(Isaiah 40: 25-26)
Watch this video. It is quite good for discernment.
Try to imagine the Creator’s power and wisdom. Try.
Now imagine Him, the ineffable Logos that created all we see and more, entering time and space as a baby destined to live only a few decades before meeting His objective: to be cruelly crucified on a Roman cross. As we learn more about the universe we see ourselves smack in the middle of what is infinitely small and what is infinitely big. Our own minds contain a different kind of infinity and there have been an uncountable number of us through history. Reflections and bifurcations multiply to dizzying numbers. Deceived between pain and pleasure we spend our short lives under stars whose light burned millions of years ago. We pass through life oblivious to the love that created all of it for us to contemplate.
To us He came so we can see Him up close. Before leaving He taught us to see Him in the other, our neighbor. Think of that unfathomable power. Think of His love for you: the Author of life in love with a flicker of flesh walking upon a blue sphere hidden among billions of stars.
It’s Christ’s Mass, God is entering His own creation. You are here with Him.
