Christmas: Always A New Beginning

Bishop Emmanuel Badejo

We all occasionally desire a new beginning. Call it nostalgia for some good old times or the result of the "had I known" surge of regret for some bad decision or action! Is the patronage of the beauty and cosmetic industries not somehow driven by a longing for youthfulness, some sort of self-perpetuation? It is yes, in the nature of human beings to long for the dawn, for a fresh day after the night's. From the act of getting up from sleep, to the choice of having a shower, taking a retreat or doing a refresher course, man betrays the hope and craving for something new, fresh and different from what used to be.

All human efforts at renewal and rejuvenation can only touch a tiny part of creation. No one, no group, no force, not even the combined effort of all creatures can match God's own enormous power of regeneration which he signaled several times in Scripture. "But do not dwell on the past, or remember the things of old. Look I am doing anew thing: now it springs forth. Do you not see? I am opening up a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43: 18-19). Who else but the Almighty could achieve that? After all, he created the entire world by His mere word. (Gen. 1 : 1-30, John 1:1-5) That word with the Holy Spirit caused the Incarnation. When the son of God became man, in spite of all the pain and sorrow, a whole new world was generated, and all history redesigned "before Christ" or "after Christ". The sheer poetry of the first chapter of John's gospel captures the mystery and magic of that new beginning.

Christmas (the birth of Emmanuel) must thus bring a real newness a transformation to the life of every Christian. Our association with Christ must achieve that purpose if we must be authentic. St. Paul proclaims this truth most eloquently: "For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a new creature. For him the old things have passed away, a new world has come. All this is the work of God who in Christ reconciled us to himself, and who entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation. Because in Christ God reconciled the world to himself, no longer taking into account their trespasses and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5 17- 19). This is the real transformation agenda. This is the indicator of our story with Christ the son of reconciliation. St. Paul urges us all: "Let God reconcile you; this we ask you in the name of Christ" (2 Cor. 5:20). That is what our world needs so much today. We can achieve it only if we descend to a new level of humility as God did in Jesus' incarnation.

Then a new man will indeed emerge and through us God will make all things new. Meanwhile, merry, merry Christmas to all.