A Christmas story

Shorn of tinsels and trimmings of a highly commercialized and over-worldly celebration, Christmas can be observed as a pure and simple story of strong faith, of pure love and of unwavering hope. We firmly and strongly believe that more than two thousand years ago, God himself came into this world to become human like us in the person of Jesus Christ born of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came into this world because “God so loved the world that He gave His only son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

Jesus is thus named “Emmanuel” or God-with-us. “He is the mediator because he is both God and man. He holds within himself the entire intimate world of divinity, the entire mystery of the Trinity and the mystery both of temporal life and immortality. He is true man…Thanks to this, the entire world of men, the entire history of humanity, finds in Him, its expression before God; and not before a distant, unreachable God, but before a God that is in Him — that indeed is He” (John Paul II Crossing the threshold of Hope, 43). Hence Jesus Himself said that “whatever you do to the least of my brethren you do it to me”.

In this light let me share with you this story circulating in the internet. Some may have also come across it. It may have been told many times before in different ways but it is worth retelling and sharing especially during this Christmas time because of its simple message of true faith, hope and love. This is the story of Joanne who we can associate with our own “Juana”

“Joanne went to the mail box and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter.

Dear Joanne,

I am going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I’d like to stop by for a visit. 

Love Always,       

Jesus

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. ‘Why would the Lord want to visit me? I’m nobody special. I don’t have anything to offer’. With that thought, Joanne remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. ‘Oh my goodness, I really don’t have anything to offer. I’ll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner’. She reached for her purse and counted out its contents; five dollars and forty cents. Well I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least’

She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. A loaf of French bread, a half pound of sliced turkey and a carton of milk….leaving Joanne with a grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday. Nonetheless she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arms.

‘Hey lady, can you help us lady?’ Joanne had been so absorbed in her dinner plans she hadn’t even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman both of them dressed in little more than rags. ‘Look lady, I ain’t got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well now it’s getting cold and we are getting kinda hungry, and, well, if you could help us lady we’d appreciate it’.

Joanne looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to. ‘Sir I’d like to help you, but I am a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I’m having an important guest for dinner tonight and I am planning on serving that to him. ‘Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand. Thanks anyway’. The man put his arm around the woman’s shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley.

As she watched them leave, Joanne felt a familiar twinge in her heart. ‘Sir, wait!’ The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. ‘Look, why don’t you take this food. I’ll figure out something else to serve my guest’ She handed the man her grocery bag. ‘Thank you, lady. Thank you very much. Yes thank you.’ It was the man’s wife, and Joanne could see now that she was shivering ‘You know I’ve got another coat at home. Here why don’t you take this one’ Joanne un-buttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman’s shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the street…without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest. ‘Thank you, lady! Thank you very much’

Joanne was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn’t have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mail box. ‘That’s odd. The mailman doesn’t usually come twice in one day’

Dear Joanne,

It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal and thank you too for the beautiful coat.

Love always,

Jesus

The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Joanne no longer noticed”.

During the few remaining days before Christmas therefore, it may be good to ponder and to remember how God loves us through His death on the cross; to celebrate for He is still with us here, among our brethren especially the least among them, the “Emmanuel, God-with-us, a God who shares man’s lot and participates in his destiny” (John Paul II idem p.62); and to believe and hope that we will see Him again in all His glory forever and ever.

SISONS’ GREETINGS TO ONE AND All, MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED AND JOYOUS CHRISTMAS AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!