The Gift of Mercy is Born…. Alleluia!
Brothers and Sisters,
Over the last few weeks we have been reflecting on the gifts that we can give Jesus this Christmas. I wrote about the gifts of our lives, strengths, weaknesses, dreams, past, present and future. All these seem a little strange, but as we reflected on them we came to understand their importance when we place them in the hands of our Lord. Two thousand and fifteen years ago, the Magi from the East came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Again, strange gifts to brought to a little baby! However it is through these gifts that the Magi symbolically acknowledged Jesus as King, Priest and Saviour. Gold is a symbol of kingship on earth; frankincense is a symbol of priesthood and myrrh (embalming oil) is a symbol of death. As Christians and through our baptism we share in Christ’s kingly, priestly and prophetic mission.
So today in 2015, with everything that is taking place in our contemporary lives, what gift will we give to Jesus? What gold will we present him with? Will it be our families, our strengths and talents, our possessions and all that is valuable in our lives? What frankincense will we bring to the new born king? Will it be our prayers, our Christian life and mission, our service to the Church and its people? And what myrrh will we offer the new born babe? Will it be our weaknesses, our fears, the tragedies that we are facing all around the world, the wars, the poverty and the devastation of our brothers and sisters in humanity? All of these things not only represent who we are, but more importantly represent who our Lord is. Christmas is a life changing event where we encounter God among us who communicates himself through his son Jesus Christ. God communicates the wellspring of his Mercy and compassion through the Gift of Mercy – Emmanuel. We are called to transmit this gift of Mercy to all those that we come in contact with. You see, Jesus is me and he is you – he is every single one of us. We should be able to see the face of Jesus in the face of our neighbour. When we are merciful to our neighbour, then we are not only radiating God’s mercy, but we are giving back to Jesus the gift of Mercy – the gift of himself. The Magi fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy which says: “Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.” Today we are called to continue to fulfil this prophecy day in and day out. We need to walk by the light of Jesus and shine his radiance throughout the world so that through him, the Gift of Mercy, we can become “Merciful like the Father.”
On behalf of all the priests, I would like to wish you all a blessed Christmas. Thank you one and all for all your prayers, support and encouragement throughout the year. Without you we are unable to do the things that we do in our parish.
Fr Tony Sarkis
