My next door neighbor

My next door neighbor has shared me a beautiful material for reflection especially this Christmas. I have actually linked it to this entry and for you to easily download it, here is the site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5js77uJUGA

I find this very revealing about our current status in life, what we have and what we can yet be. The Gospel today speaks what Jesus Himself said to the people: "we sang you a tune but you did not dance, we piped you a dirge but you did not wail." What I get from this line is that of our unfaith in each other, how we can be so unbelieving about the other in the midst of what we hear, or may have heard about the other with whom we may have lost faith. In the meantime we stack a lot of material things to protect ourselves from our own guilt of unbelief. Our Founder of the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) St. Arnold Janssen's motto is: "May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace, and the may the Heart of Jesus live in every heart." It is a prayer as well as a challenge so that we learn how to open ourselves again to the other and discover what has been neglected by the rejections we do in our hearts of unbelief. It's not that I did not believe my next door neighbor. Had I been, I would not have even discovered his products that uplifted my spirit.

See the point now? Indeed, when our hearts remain open, then wisdom is really vindicated. It's a beautiful life we've been given. Our categories of others can sometimes keep them from entering into our lives and enrich us, inflame us, inspire us. Am so thankful that the other has not been closed to me, and shared me what he has done. This is the reason for celebrating Christmas: Someone Who may have been so unknown and so "distant" has dared to come into our midst to share us what He has: His love that gives us life, more life, and yes, eternal life.