Jesus gives us new hope by his New & Creative entry into the world…He continues even now…!

Franciscan Vision of Christmas

Francis of Assisi had a deep fascination for 
creatures and hence he brought this into his meditation on the birth of Jesus. For Francis the beauty of God was present in nature and particularly in its fragility and humility. We are used to contemplating God as all Powerful, Almighty and so on. But here in the Incarnation God has chosen a new paradigm of being simple, weak, powerless and of the status of a baby. We asked our Br. José Ángel the Secretary of the Lexicon about his view on Christmas. His reply was: “He who knows to become a child, sees through the eyes of God. The Creator God leaving his omnipotence came to give us a new image of Him. An image of a little child who depends on its parents and others. It is shift from power to love, in this God wants us to change our view of him. He is merciful and passionate.”


We could open ourselves to be inspired by this eternal wisdom of a humble, loving God. It also offers us a hope that our fragility, suffering due to sincere commitments, sacrifices, challenges due to living a value, perseverance in goodness have a value. Br. André Ménard, the French theologian, used to talk about the definition of Faith by St. Bonaventure: “Faith according to St. Bonaventure is recognizing the hidden God present everywhere, especially in the creation.”

There are a number of ways in which we can manifest the hidden God. Humble service could be one of them. This is a time for receiving the ‘grace’ by doing some work in a Capuchin Franciscan Way. Br. Mauro our Minister General in his recent letter to the Order on the “The Grace of Working,” (no. 7) in the section ‘the value of work for the individual friar,’ invites us receive the grace by working. “Work does not have a value just as a means of support, but provides for a person a sense of his own life, contributing to the realization of his own humanity.” He further insists on the importance of taking up a work given by the province, even if it is not pleasing to me, in the Evangelical Counsel of obedience and in service to the fraternity. “It is necessary that we ask the Lord for the Grace to make concrete and visible what we affirm and preach with regard to obedience, sacrifice and willingness to serve even to the giving of one’s own life for the growth and advancement of others. To accept a proposal of work or a fraternal service calls upon the same dimension of our faith and requires continual learning in free self-giving.” Yes, it could be working like Mother Mary and St. Joseph. The Christmas Season and New Year surely will offer us many opportunities to serve others sometimes in a very humble insignificant way. It would be a fine way of celebrating Christmas and New Year, by identifying ourselves with the ordinary workers of the society where the Grace of Incarnate Son is hidden in a mystical way.  

This world of ours with its human elements could lead one to despair. We may have experiences and hardships beset with dichotomies and incongruities of people and our life situations.  But the incarnate Spirit of God is ever present in this world and we need to be connected to that life, bringing Spirit so that we get revitalised. This season provides us an opportunity to have that experience of reaching our brothers and sisters on the periphery to which Pope Francis leads us often.  As we begin to set a stage for the New Year along with the Christmas sharing, let us add a contemplative dimension to our initiatives. Fr. Willie Doyle (the famous Jesuit Chaplain to the armed forces who was killed in action in France, 1916) would invite us saying, Make your prayer simple, as simple as you can; reason little, love much, and you will pray well.

Best wishes in trying the New Way of Jesus & St. Francis!