The Christ of Christmas

Christ came into a world that had problems
The problems of that day were similar to ours
To the Herods of our time, Jesus is saying,
"I have come that you may have life".

When the Magi had departed
Behold, a voice was heard in Ramah
It was the voice of Rachael in pain,
A mother who refused to be consoled.

Rachel was a symbol of all mothers
She wept for her children stolen and killed by Herod
Herod, the symbol of all wicked leaders
Raised their anger on the defenceless children in the town.

No answer seems to delight our human intelligence
None could tell the passion of the innocent children
The condition of the mothers in pain was beyond definition
Every home was marked in red, the blood of martyrs.

Suffering is mysterious in nature
Suffering may visit anyone in different ways:
Illness, diseases, handicap, slander, injustice,
abuse, poverty, persecution and martyrdom.

In those lamentations of the mothers in pain
The voice of their children rise to heaven as prayers,
As a witness of their unselfish love for God,
To the throne of God, He will wipe away every tear.

The child martyrs are the Holy innocents
They were mistaken for the Infant Jesus
They were the light-bearers of Christ
In their childlike simplicity, they were modelled in the image of Jesus.

The message of Christmas is a personal message to us all
Jesus met Herod in His birth and His passion
His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection has won us victory over all other Herods of our time
He will be a wonderful Saviour to us all.

Prisca Onyinye Nwokorie is a  Roman Catholic Nun. She belongs to the religious order of “Oblates of St. Benedict Joseph Labre” in Italy. She is a graduate of the University of Bari where she obtained her Bachelor’s and Masters’ degrees in “Information and Communication Technologies for the Production of Software” and “Computer Science” respectively. Currently, she is carrying out research work on “E-learning for Developing Countries”.