Once upon a time, and it was in the year 2000 on Christmas Eve, when the Holy Father was once again talking about the stable in Bethlehem, he asked us to try to relate the situation of Mary and Joseph to today’s parents who are expecting a child. “The King of the Universe was not even provided with the bare minimum that every family prepares for the reception of a new child” – he said. – Mary and Joseph, for whom there was no room in the inn, must seek refuge in a poor stable. The first cradle of the newborn becomes the manger. It was in this scene of extreme poverty that God became one of us. Thus comes into the world the only-begotten Son of the Father, awaited by the nations, the Holy Door of Salvation which leads us to the fullness of immortal life.” No layette, no crib waiting at home, no plush toys that didn’t exist then, but today there is a whole sea of them. Apparently there was nothing great in this speech, and I remember it to this day – says the Archbishop. – How different one looks at the nativity scene when one tries to understand it in this way. Jesus was much awaited. Today, for the long-awaited child, the family is preparing all the good of this world. Mom irons clothes, diapers. Dad is looking for toys. Not to mention grandmothers and grandfathers. Jesus and Mary had nothing. A few swaddling clothes in which Mary wrapped her son before putting him in the manger. Maybe this stone in the nativity scene, that’s why it moved the Holy Father so much. Because it was also a grotto. Cold. Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem. John Paul II emphasized this overwhelming misery in which God was born. And, the love that can overcome every misery. (…) But how much of this love, joy, reconciliation and peace we draw depends only on us.
With the consent of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki – “Place for everyone”
Znak Publishing House, Kraków 2013.
