Time to Become a Child Again
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December 24, 2018“To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” (Jn 1:12)
From the writings of Guerric of Igny:
“’Unto us a child is born’ (Is 9:6) – a child who is the ancient of days. Child in bodily form and age; ancient of days in the Word’s eternity past understanding. And though, as the ancient of days, he is not a child, still he is always new; indeed he is just as new as newness itself which remains always in him and renews all things. Every single thing grows old just so much as it receded from him, and is renewed in the degree that it returns. And, in a way unheard of, the reason for his youth and age is one and the same, for his eternity has no beginning in birth nor decline in old age. For him, his very newness is ancient and his antiquity new. But in another way the newness of this temporal birth is that the child is born to renew us.
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So for us now it is sweet to think and to think again of this Child-God, sweet and utterly delicious; more, for him to be in us is a most effective remedy for curing and sweetening our rancor of soul, bitterness of speech and harshness of manners. For I cannot believe that where there is awareness and remembrance of his divine sweetness room can be found for anger or sadness, but every trace of anger and bitterness and every other source of evil shall be taken away from us. So it will be that like new-born babes we shall worthily praise the new-born Infant Lord, and in the complete accord of our lives and voices, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings shall perfect praise be given to the Babe and Suckling, our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be praise and rejoicing throughout endless ages. Amen.”
(First Sermon for Christmas)
I desire to take the opportunity to be made new by the newness of the Child-God: to renounce the bitter cynicism of one growing old in separation from the source of life; to be sweetened in rediscovered youth by drawing near to the one who is ever young.
Image: Nativity by Sieger Koder
