Manger Lessons

“I gave a beggar my merienda,” Gerard said.
“That will be rewarded with be one step forward for your sheep, Gerard,” teacher Larry helped him move his little sheep figurine closer to the manger.
“Now, boys…,” he reminded them. “Remember what I told you in our last class? Every good deed is one step for your sheep.
“….if we forget a good deed, teacher Larry?” Stephen clarified.
“What did I say last time, Steph?”
“One step backward, teacher Larry,” the boy replied snappily.
“Correct!”
“But what if we forget to do anything good for Advent?” Clarvin asked with a melancholic tone.
“That means your sheep would stay in the far end of the stage, Clarvin,” he replied.
“So try to do something good for Jesus, every day!”
“Yes!!!” the boys answered in unison.
* * *
The next day teacher Larry passed by the Manger and was shocked to see that someone had put all the sheep figurines crammed and piled inside the manger. He immediately brought his class to the scene of the ‘nativity crime’.
“Who moved all the sheep into the manger?” he asked his pupils.
No one answered…
“Do you realize that it makes it impossible to remember the exact place where your sheep were?”
Again silence…
“Can anyone pleeease tell me who and why he did this?”
One of the boys raised his hand.
“Yes, Philip? Would you tell me who’s idea this was to put all the sheep in the manger?”
“Jesus…!” the boy mischievously answered.
“Alright,” teacher Larry tried to control his temper. “Are you telling me that Jesus wanted to mix up all the sheep and just forget all your hard-earned Advent sacrifices and good deeds?”
“Well… maybe because Jesus wants to save all His sheep?” Philip said.
* * *
As Christmas draws nearer may this childlike story remind us not to miss the more important message of the season: opening our hearts to Christ. We must realize that we must allow the grace of this season to transform us interiorly rather than just ‘decorate’ ourselves externally with something superficial.
God is really serious about saving us! The manger is not only some tender representation of Jesus’ love for mankind. It is a demanding mystery that compels us to ask ourselves how we are seconding this initiative of our Lord’s love for us. Thus, He counts on our free response: our wanting to be saved and putting the sincere efforts in the meansto be saved.
Pope Francis recounts an experience of his that teaches us how we must strive to live this season’s lesson and regain our true identity as God’s children. The Pope narrates:
“This is the night of surprises. The night before last, something happened that moved me. At the Obelisk there were children, organized by the Archdiocese, making up a living crèche scene, and here on the other corner of the Obelisk was a Santa Claus who was greeting people and accepting letters. At one point he crossed over and said to the person directing the living crèche: ‘Let me sit here: I want to feel the Christmas spirit.’ He sat down, removed his mask and accepted reality. Don’t let yourself be hidden by pride, nor vanity, nor by shouting or domineering. That will get you nowhere. Lower yourself, take a gamble on meekness, take a gamble on goodness. Look through the foliage of life, and there you will find what no one else understands, a child lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. There you will find Jesus every day. (Homily for Christmas Eve, 24-XII-2010)”
Let us therefore be eager to go with haste, like the shepherds, towards the manger heart of Christ. And if we learn to be humble, then we will remove the mask of our attachment to worldly things, we shall strip ourselves off our fragile man-made virtual images, we will courageously step on our pride and open ourselves to forgive and forget, etc.
Only through this personal conversion will Christmas acquire its true and genuine meaning. It will be our transformation as living gifts humbly offered within the manger-hearts of the Jesus, Mary and Joseph.