Previous Reflections

Home > Services & Events > Previous Reflections

SALUS MUNDI (THE HEALTH OF THE WORLD)

The Revd Maggie Guillebaurd, Cathedral Curate (Tuesday 1st December 2009)

I saw a stable, low and very bare,
A little child in a manger.
The oxen knew him, had him in their care,
To men he was a stranger.
The safety of the world was lying there,
And the world’s danger.
Mary Coleridge

This is the time of year when the Church celebrates the gift of God’s only Son, when we hear the story of the birth of our Saviour in less than ideal circumstances in Palestine over 2000 years ago. This is the time of year when families come together to celebrate and exchange presents, when for a few brief days in a hectic world the Christian world is stilled as we commemorate an extraordinary event. This is a time when we proclaim that the Prince of Peace has been born.

Amidst all the celebration and joy of Christmas it is highly unusual to perceive the Christ child as a danger. We can see his birth as being for the health of the world, as the title of this little poem suggests. But danger? Can this event be seen as dangerous? In one sense, yes. Because in the birth of Jesus the world is set a challenge, and challenges can upset the status quo. It certainly upset Herod when he heard about it, and set out to have Jesus killed. It certainly challenged the Magi, who had to travel long journeys to find the place where Jesus had been born. It amazed and rattled the shepherds, who from their humdrum lives of watching over their sheep rushed to Bethlehem to see what was going on.

But the danger was more than that, and one that was intimately linked to the idea of health. For humans to be fully alive, fully healthy, they not only need challenges in their lives, but they need also to feel loved. The birth of the Christ child in Bethlehem presents us with both the challenge and the promise of limitless love. The challenge in that the birth signified a moment when God entered human history and our response to this momentous event, which has been considered afresh by each generation since. And limitless love in that it demonstrates that each one of is infinitely precious to God, who showed this by sending His only Son to die and conquer death for us. This is the true gift of Christmas. The Health of the World is here.

OTHER REFLECTIONS

Site Map

site design by datasouthuklimited