Very often, during this Pandemic, I was reminded of a song I heard many years ago. The title of the song was: “God is watching from a distance”. I liked the music, but not the lyrics, because the words seemed to imply that our God is a distant God, disinterested with the human affairs; a God who does not care…
Yet, in spite of the Pandemic, or perhaps because of Pandemic, our God is not a distant God; He is so near to us that He became one of us! He took upon Himself the human flesh; He became one of us in everything except sin.
This is the reason why the solemnity of Christmas is a celebration of joy, of light, and of hope. In fact, the words, proclaimed by the angel of the Lord to the shepherds, contain the real meaning of the message of Christmas; a message that has been announced every year for the last 2020 years. “I bring you news of great joy … today a Savior has been born to you”.
+ Francesco Panfilo, SDB
Archbishop Emeritus of Rabaul