WILL YOU MAKE A LITTLE PLACE FOR JESUS?

Though the latest developments in communication technology have reduced our world into a global village, the reality is that our world is falling apart under the collective weight of natural calamities, gross inequalities, massive injustice, racism, casteism, violence, faulty definitions of lifes meaning and distorted faith. We have about 1.3 billion poor people, perhaps the most endangered species on the planet today living in extreme poverty. When 40% people of the world share just 5% of the global income, the richest 10% share almost 54%. In our own country India when 80 million people are starving, 6 million tons of food grains are rotting in our warehouses. More than 10 million children die each year before their fifth birthday. On an average, someone born in India would live 14 years less than someone born in the United States. Witnessing terrorism and violence in the name of God and religion, one might say that we have enough religion to hate than to love. Amidst the highly advanced communication satellite networks, millions of cell phones and e-mail-internet access, people seem to be communicating less love and breeding more hatred and violence. If Jesus has to be born today, where would he choose to be born? Where would Mary and Joseph look for or find a place? In Bill Gates or Ambanis family or in a Dalit or tribal hut? Will he not be born into one of those families in Andhra where farmers have been committing suicide, in Orissa where many have been dying of starvation? Will he not be born as a child of HIV/AIDS victim? What would be his life expectance, like that of an American or that of an Indian or an African? Will he be among the richest 10% of the world? We are entering into the Christmas season, a joyous season that reminds us of life and love in its fullness. It is a season where we are reminded of the mystery that God chooses to love us unconditionally. It is a season that reminds us of Divinity entering time and space and taking a human nature with its fragilities and limitations, except in sin. But is this Christ who became a part of the human reality 2000 years ago found today in Christianity? Jack Nelson in his book Jesus Against Christianity speaks of the missing Jesus in Christianity today. Probably this season is an invitation to each of us to reclaim the missing Jesus in our world, communities, homes and hearts. Jesus is born when we express our solidarity and genuine love with a suffering heart, when we hold a street child with much affection and love, when we extend a helping hand to an earthquake victim, when we sit and spend time with the boy in Narain in South Delhi who has lost his both parents on the eve of Dipavali in a bomb blast, when we hug the girl, who has lost her beloved father in the same bomb blast, but her mother is afraid to tell her, and say to the girl, I love you darling, when we render a smile to one who needs it the most. May all of us become constantly aware of the Emmanuel within us. Mary and Joseph might knock at our door thorough the people we meet daily in our life. It might be at an odd time desperately looking for a place to give birth to Jesus. Shall we not give a little place for Him in our heart? Shall we not keep our heart and ears a bit more open to the staggering realities around us? Shall we not light a candle instead of cursing the darkness? The choice is ours. We can make a difference in this world by being Jesus to all those who need our healing touch. Wish you a joy-filled and meaningful Christmas.