Rediscovering the Inner Joy of Christmas

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, you will undoubtedly feel that it's that time of year. All around, it's joyous, vibrant, extravagant, fragrant, and colorful. 

But despite its festive and vibrant external ambiance, the Season also brings us yet another opportunity to revisit the interior life, reflect on what the birth of our Savior truly means, and rediscover the inner joy that it brings. Christmas is a lot more than just the colorful decorations, the twinkling lights, or the scent of fir tree or peppermint. In all the commotions, in the scents, sights, and sounds of it all as we prepare the decorations, the food, and the Christmas songs, what often gets overlooked or buried in all the externalities is our internal preparation. 

We can learn from what Saint Francis of Assisi did 800 years ago when he thought about how to celebrate Christmas and discover true joy. He reimagined the nativity scene and brought to life the story of our Savior’s birth for the people to understand in a deeper sense the reason for the season.

In contrast to the bright lights, the vibrant sounds, and the fresh scents that we are accustomed to during the Christmas season, the nativity scene that Saint Francis recreated was to help us meditate on the simplicity and the humility of the birth of our Lord. Because, after all, Jesus Christ, our King, the Son of God, entered into history by way of a manger, a feeding box for animals, in poverty and in desolation, surrounded by that barnyard smell. God, who gave us the gift of Himself, chose to become poor for our sake.

As Saint Francis stood before the manger that night of the first nativity scene, he was so moved that, according to Saint Bonaventure, “he bathed in tears and radiant with joy.”

Christmas traditions, rituals, and decorations can lead us to jubilation but it's the simplicity and the humility of our Savior in the manger that has the power to remind us of the deeper meaning of Christmas joy.

The Saviour of the world has come down from heaven. Let us rejoice!

This proclamation, filled with deep rejoicing,

echoed in the night of Bethlehem.

Today the Church renews it with unchanged joy:

the Saviour is born for us!

A wave of tenderness and hope fills our hearts,

together with an overpowering need for closeness and peace.

In the crib, we contemplate the One

who stripped himself of divine glory

in order to become poor, driven by love for mankind.

Beside the crib, the Christmas tree, with its twinkling lights,

reminds us that with the birth of Jesus,

the tree of life has blossomed anew in the desert of humanity.

The crib and the tree: precious symbols,

which hand down in time the true meaning of Christmas!

--Christmas 2003 Urbi et Orbi Papal Address and Apostolic Blessing