Editor’s note: This text originally appeared within the Dec. 17, 1988 issue of America as “Emmanuel.”
Some years ago, a friend of mine was complaining about what he took to be the decline and fall of Roman Catholicism in France. His voice faltered, and he summed things up: “The French went in for Catholic Motion. Then they pushed the road of témoignage, or witness. Now they’re satisfied with mere presence.”
On the time I wondered whether my friend was right in being disenchanted with the move from motion to witness and from witness to presence. I put it to myself this manner: “After I come to die, nobody will have the opportunity to do anything for me, and 1 won’t want anyone preaching to me. But I will definitely be reassured by the presence of an in depth relative or another person I really like dearly.”
We live in God’s heart, and Christmas visibly brought amongst us the Son of God who cares infinitely for every of us.
Nowadays I ponder whether, inadvertently, my friend had discovered a great way of expressing the move from creation, through the history of Israel and all the way down to the birth of Jesus Himself. God acted in creation. Moses and the prophets were called to offer witness to the people. But Jesus Christ was God’s personal presence amongst us. In his infancy narrative, Matthew calls Jesus “Emmanuel, which implies ‘God with us’” (Mt. 1:25). The prologue of John’s Gospel climaxes with the announcement: “The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us” (Jn 1:14). This presence got here about through the free love of God: “In this manner the love of God was made manifest amongst us, that God sent his only Son into the world that we’d pass though him” (1 Jn 4:9).
Pondering of the Christmas message by way of a latest divine presence carries several benefits. First, we’re moving in the realm of something we search for daily of our lives—the non-public presence of those whom we look after and who care about us. We cannot endure to depart friendship and love at a distance. Photographs, memories, letters and even phone calls are usually not enough. We wish to enjoy the non-public presence of those that fill our minds and allow us to live of their hearts. We live in God’s heart, and Christmas visibly brought amongst us the Son of God who cares infinitely for every of us. God didn’t need to live that love at a distance. God gave us and offers us God’s personal presence, that almost all precious gift of those that look after us.
Second, the theme of divine presence has not less than a small advantage over a few of the other language we use and listen to in our worship at Christmas. The reading for the Mass at dawn, for instance, recalls the birth of Jesus because the time “when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared” (Titus 3:4). Beyond doubt, this language of “appearance” indicates the divine good will toward human beings. All the identical, there may be a direct sense of private relationship communicated by the name “Emmanuel.” God isn’t any longer merely “for us” but now “with us.” The Word has come to dwell “amongst us.” This presence had initiated a latest relationship between the human race and our God. As never before, God is with us and personally related to us.
Third, a private presence, whether human or divine, at all times has something mysterious about it. We appreciate the qualitative difference between the mere physical nearness of other people on a crowded bus and the supportive presence of a friend at a time of crisis. We’re dealing here with something that’s utterly real and yet quite obscure and interpret. “Presence” and various sorts of presence can seem a simple matter, but on evaluation they continue to be mysteriously elusive. This may occasionally partly account for the indisputable fact that over the centuries Western philosophy has did not reflect very much on this notion. Aside from Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973) and just a few others, philosophers have largely left alone the thought and reality of presence and private presence.
The Christmas message means not only Jesus Himself within the arms of Mary but in addition His presence within the arms of those that carry our suffering brothers and sisters.
To talk of the Son of God coming “amongst us” to live “with us” seems like easy talk. But we’ve little help here from the philosophers, and in any case this belief points to a novel mystery, the qualitatively latest, personal presence of God in our world.
Fourth, as Vatican II’s “Structure on the Sacred Liturgy” noted, Christ’s personal presence takes different forms (No. 7). This 1963 document naturally addressed itself to the variability of the way Christ becomes present in worship and left it at that. However the link between liturgy and life suggests looking also to the numerous other types of Christ’s presence around us. In a special way. the poor and oppressed bring us His presence. The Child within the manger shows us His face in a thousand needy victims of our world. The Christmas message means not only Jesus Himself within the arms of Mary but in addition His presence within the arms of those that carry our suffering brothers and sisters.
I have no idea whether my friend feels happier now in regards to the state of French Catholicism. But I remain grateful for the language he offered me. In our human history, we discover God in motion. We hear the prophetic witness given us through the inspired Scriptures and inspired speakers. But at Christmas we are able to rejoice in a uniquely wealthy and mysterious gift, the brand new personal presence of “God with us.”
Christmas shows us that we contact God not only through what we see and listen to, but in addition through what we touch. We will see God acting in history. We will open our ears to listen to the divine message to us. But we can even reach out and touch the Son of God, now mysteriously but truly present amongst us in a wealthy range of latest ways.
