Fr Clement’s Christmas Message
The Heroes of Christmas: The Shepherd were the
first to see Jesus. Yet, compared to the rest of humanity,
these poor farmers were the nobodies at the time. They were
insignificant and spent their nights in the cold whilst everyone
else was a enjoying a good night’s sleep. God chose these poor
shepherds to be the first witnesses and bearers of “the good news
of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10).
Only the Gospel of Luke mentions the role played by the
Shepherds in an account of the events surrounding the birth of
Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew avoids any mention of the poor
Shepherds and, in fact, replaces them with the Kings (Magi) in
the infancy narratives. The Gospels of Mark and John tell us
nothing about the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.
During this new Liturgical year of St Luke (Year C), we
see God’s preference of revealing himself to and walking with the
poor people. God’s message and task to everyone couldn’t be
any clearer – helping the poor people at the centre of serving God
and finding God. Aware of God’s preferred choice of the humble
and the poor as his messengers, St James explains the meaning of
true religion: Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the
Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and
refusing to let the world corrupt you (James 1:27). The big
Christmas question and challenge is this: Who am I helping?