Journeying with the Founder Day #55

What is the mystery of Christmas if not the coming of God into time and history, Christ’s going forth from God to enter into man? This is the word that we find in the Gospel: “I came from the Father and have come into the world” (Jn 16:28). Christ, the Eternal Word, has come forth from the Father and has come into the world so that we may have the courage to come out from ourselves…At the very moment in which the Word comes forth, there is a passage from infinity to littleness. We, instead, have to come out from our littleness into the broader dimension of the world and towards our brethren who await us. I am aware that I am saying things that are very simple and ordinary, but they are strikingly true and involve our very life. Very often we are locked within ourselves, within our own selfishness, our sensibilities, our tastes, our vision, our memories, our experiences, and we do not go beyond ourselves or open ourselves to others. Evangelical radicalism can be found in this “going beyond.” Other people do not need our sadness, our poverty, or our limitations. They need to see God through us. This is maximalism! (Homily December 25, 1976)

Journeying with the Founder Day #55