Jesus knows our sorrows and our joys

O Holy Night.
This is a song we sing at Christmas time. But once Christmas is over, what happens?
The song is as relevant as ever, each day of the year.

As Mary in the last stage of pregnancy sat on the donkey's back with Joseph leading her through Bethlehem, her Baby within brushed closely past so many of us.
Beggars, sitting hopeless and hungry in the streets, lives tattered and poor with remembered pain and loss.
Soldiers, brusque and military, with painful memories of suffering and death of loved ones in their minds as they marched along, far from home.
People from Israel's proud tribes, coming home to fulfil the census; mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers; boys, girls and babies.
Innkeepers and shepherds; bakers and carpenters; road layers and taxmen; prophets and scribes.

As the Baby Jesus brushed past them, the God within Him silently realised;
So this is what it is like.
This is what it is like to be human, in the last stages just before birth, being pushed out into an unfriendly and at times hostile and dangerous world.
These are the sounds I hear through the protective womb of my mother;
wails of pleading and hopelessness from beggars, cold in the night of the streets.
Commands and brusqueness from marching soldiers, lonely and far from home - never far from the possibility of battle or death.
The loneliness and panic of my earthly father Joseph as he tries to protect me during my birth by finding me a place to stay.
The terror of my Mother as she battles and gasps for breath as the birthing process starts.

And so the earthly Mission of God made man began from the very first moment, as He joined the throngs of His created humanity in their search for the final meaning and destiny of their lives.

And during that Holy Night after Jesus was born, and lay wide eyed and looking with love into the eyes of His earthly Mother, the God within Him thought;
So this is what love for your mother feels like.
This melting, helpless flood of emotion that you have for no other.
A bond from her body to yours which has been cut when the umbilical cord has been cut; but the emotional cord bonding her heart to yours is never, ever cut. 
Even when she found herself unable somehow to commit to being your daily carer, and part of your daily life.
Even if you are adopted or fostered, or aborted;
she always remains your mother.

And Joseph, His earthly protector and father.
As Jesus looked into the sturdy and loving eyes of His mentor and the man who would teach Him on earth what it means to be a good man and a caring protector, the God within Him felt;
safe and protected by the man who would give his very life to protect the newly birthed woman and the infant son who depended on his strength, courage and wisdom to keep them safe in their vulnerability from the dangers that can befall.

And Jesus, Saviour and strong Protector of all, destined to give His Life for us in order to re-establish the bond of Parenthood and Love with God, which had been so cruelly broken by humanity's faithlessness towards our Creator, began His Mission on that Holy Night.
The Holy Night which forms the joy of each and every day of our year.

Let us rejoice that this tiny Baby has shown us once again how to reach the personal nobility which lies dormant within our souls, despite the Fall; and helps us with His wondrous grace to reach the full nobility of our souls and eternal life with God in Heaven.

*Photograph taken by Rev Catherine Nicolette with permission