A casual stroll through the streets of Dublin at this time of the year may only spell abundance. People carrying big boxes and multi-colored packages; people readying themselves for the numerous gatherings and feasting occasions of the season are the common sight for these days. It is not easy to recognize that, buried beneath all those gifts and boxes, there are human beings whose deepest desires so often are not being fulfilled. I think the big challenge nowadays is to spot our needs, our most profound needs, those that cannot be sorted out with a fat wallet or with irresistible bargains.
There are many kinds of poverty and some of them can be concealed with relative ease. In terms of affection and need of care many people could be starving right now but their desperate condition is not apparent. They walk by, get jobs, pay their bills, do their shopping, eat and drink and may become friendly or even amusing–yet their hearts can well be very sad and their lives strangely empty and meaningless. We only come to know that something was ever wrong deep down in them when they do unusual things. Regretfully, it could be too late when the alarm goes on. Many have committed serious harm to others or themselves by that time.
If concealing that many of us are people in want can be so dangerous, I guess the opposite can bring healing refreshment to our souls. Our emotional and spiritual hunger should no be hidden or disguised but honestly acknowledged in order to act accordingly. This is the one gift Christmas brings in a very discrete yet so powerful manner. Christ was born in direst conditions and stripped from even the most common cares. As a true destitute, he exposed not only his needs but ours. At the same time, no greater gift has come to this Earth than Christ himself. Thus, the contemplation of his condition is not only bringing to light where our true needs lie, but where our true wealth is coming from.
The Blessed Virgin stands as the privileged witness to this reality. She is at the same time the poorest and the richest of all mothers. So forsaken and so tenderly looked after by God’s providence; no one held a treasure of greater value; no one was so dismissed when bringing it to the world. Mary knows very well the poor disposition of the human heart, whose selfishness appeared plainly on Christmas’ eve; she knows perfectly too the terrible need of that same heart, which out of its own misery is so slow in learning the lessons of mercy.
Let us approach the manger. Let us see our reality along with the astonishing reality of God’s love for us. Let us ask for Mary’s eyes to behold the Son of God in such a way that He may bestow on us his true and lasting gifts.