The Beauty of Christmas!!!

Three exclamation points are not enough to express the inexpressible joy of a columnist like me, nor does the entire column Shalom. But I put them here to show that our immediate reaction as soon as we see the word Christmas is — joy.

Yes, Christmas brings joy because the beauty of the Baby Jesus lying in the manger under the adoring gaze of Mary and Joseph truly attracts, fascinates and captivates. This I am sure must have been the reaction of the shepherds. Such also must have been the effect of the Baby Jesus on the three wise men from Persia, popularly called magi and Three Kings.

This is how St. Luke portrays the beautiful scene in the Infancy Narratives which Christian artists, painters, sculptors down through the centuries have depicted in their art works we now call The Christmas Crib made popular by St. Francis of Assisi — our Filipino Belen.

Thus far my three exclamation points draw our attention to what aestheticians call objective beauty. This is the beauty that can only be accessed by our external senses of sight and touch. This is the reason why an English poet Percy B. Shelley would say,

“beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”

But the joy of Christmas is much deeper than what the senses perceive. True beauty is objective which only God can create. Only God can create objects of real beauty. How should we react and respond to the beauty of the Christmas Crib or just Christmas?

Mary, the Mother of the Baby, has the answer. St. Luke describes how the whole scenic beauty touched her: “As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” (2:19).

Mary’s response was adoring silence, awesome joy, ineffable maternal love!

As we all ponder in our hearts together with Mary and Joseph the fascinating beauty of the Christ Child, God in human, who is mysteriously present within us and among us, let us ask for a special Christmas gift and blessing to see, behold and experience that Presence in the distressing disguise of the poor babies in our communities as we share with them our humble presence and material gifts.

A Blessed and Joyful Christmas to all the staff and readers of the Davao Catholic Herald!