Christmas for us and for our salvation

By Fr. Mieczysław Piotrowski S.Chr.,
Love One Another! 2016-37

Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem is a historical fact, which gives every person’s life its utmost meaning and is a source of eternal joy.

God is with us

Christmas makes us realise the joyful truth that God is with us, because the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, became incarnate through the Virgin Mary and became a real person in order to save us. Jesus Christ in the mystery of the incarnation overcame the infinite distance separating God from creation: “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” (Phil 2:7). Happy are those who believed that true God became true man in order to take away all our sins through His death and resurrection (cf. 1 John 3:5) and so that “everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The greatest treasure

Jesus Christ, God incarnate, is permanently present with us in the community of the Catholic Church. In the sacrament of confession, He forgives us all our sins and breaks all the shackles of our enslavement. In the sacrament of the Eucharist, He heals the illnesses of our souls, endows us with the capacity to love and grants us eternal life. We should remember that the Catholic Church is composed of Jesus Christ along with all of us poor sinners who need His mercy. The greatest treasure of our country and of all humanity is Jesus Christ, who in the Catholic Church teaches, forgives all sins and leads us to heaven. So we shouldn’t be surprised that the Catholic Church is so hated and persecuted by the forces of evil.

Happy are those who believed that true God became true man

The way to happiness

Jesus Christ desires to make saints of all of us sinners and to lead us to full happiness in heaven. The first step on this road is for us to express our concurrence by accepting Jesus as the only Lord and Saviour. We must believe “that love is present in the world and that this love is more powerful than any kind of evil in which individuals, humanity or the world are involved. Believing in this love means believing in mercy” (St. John Paul II, Dives in misericordia, 7). It is also necessary to realise that the source of all human misfortune is mortal sin, which is the freely chosen and conscious rejection of God — the only Source of life and love. We must immediately rise up from every mortal sin committed by receiving the sacrament of reconciliation, so as to always remain in a state of sanctifying grace. If we acknowledge our sins before Jesus with contrition and a powerful resolve to amend our ways, we experience the greatest miracle of God’s mercy — the incredible joy of forgiveness of all our sins. We must always abide in humility, remembering that we are sinners, inclined towards and capable of committing sin.

The nest step on the road to heaven is to surrender yourself to Jesus’ healing treatment. We all need spiritual healing from our various internal wounds, dependencies and emotional and mental enslavements; from egoistical focus on self and from immature love.

Pietro discovered that he and his wife had an enormous treasure, which is the living presence of Jesus in the sacrament of their marriage

In the Catholic Church, the Lord Jesus offers us fully effective treatment for spiritual healing. We have only to express our concurrence and surrender ourselves completely to His disposition. The only medication in this treatment is the merciful love of Jesus. We must take this medication daily in prayer and in the sacraments. We should arrange our daily affairs in such a way as to find time to pray the rosary (one full cycle of five decades of the rosary), to meditate on the texts of the Holy Scriptures and, if possible, also attend the Eucharist and adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament daily. Only in this way will Jesus be able to reach us with His love and accomplish our healing. We must only be patient and never succumb to discouragement.

The Lord Jesus will certainly heal you

Pietro listened to his confessor and submitted to the treatment that Jesus proposes for us. Pietro is an Italian and lives in Rome. He has a wife and three children. He went through a great spiritual crisis because he fell in love with one of his secretaries. He was overcome by such a powerful emotion that it seemed to him that he couldn’t live without this woman, that only she could bring him happiness.

His emotions told Pietro to leave his wife and children and go to live with the woman. Fortunately, however, Pietro went to confession and presented his problem to Jesus. There he heard the words: “My son, this is one of the most deceitful temptations of the evil spirit. The Lord Jesus will certainly heal you under the condition that you permit Him to treat you. First, tell your wife that you fell in love and every evening pray a full cycle of the rosary. At the same time, every day before you leave for work, you must attend the Holy Mass, and after work spend an hour in adoration before Jesus present in the Most Holy Sacrament. The Lord Jesus will certainly heal you, but you must patiently submit to His treatment”.

When Pietro told his wife about his problem, she burst into tears. From that time on, they began to pray the rosary together daily. Pietro took part in the Eucharist daily and after work went to a church, where he spent an hour in adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament. At first, it was very difficult; Pietro went through a great spiritual struggle. He suffered a great deal, but continued in prayer, offering his suffering to Jesus. From week to week, from month to month, Pietro felt how Jesus was healing his emotions, as well as his wounded heart. Subsequent confessions strengthened him in his perseverance in prayer. After several months, there came a day when Pietro’s heart was kindled with love for Jesus. Only then did he understand that falling in love with his secretary was caused by his immaturity and egoism, as well as his lack of a personal relationship with God. At that point, Pietro also discovered that he and his wife had an enormous treasure, which is the living presence of Jesus in the sacrament of their marriage. He understood that it is necessary to go to Jesus with all our problems. He submitted to the spiritual treatment which his confessor had recommended, and he was truly healed. He returned to loving his wife with a great and pure love. To this day, Pietro and his wife pray the rosary every day together. They also participate in the Eucharist on weekdays and in adoration of Jesus present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

Pietro’s example shows that the prescription for healing, as well as maturing in love and full happiness, is faith in Jesus and submission to the power of His healing love. This Love, whose name is Jesus Christ, is the only thing that any of us needs to achieve full happiness. So let us open ourselves to His love in constant daily prayer, as well as in the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist. Let us permit Jesus to love us, treat us and heal us.

The mystery of Christmas makes us realise that the Lord God comes to us as a true man in order to lead us to full happiness in heaven. Unfortunately, there are some who don’t want to accept Jesus. But despite this, to anyone who accepts Him, Jesus gives the strength of His love, which transforms them and heals them and causes them to become children of God (see John 1:11–13). And, while they are yet here in the world, they experience a foretaste of that happiness which is prepared for us in heaven.

Source: https://loamagazine.org/categories/the-main-topic/christmas-for-us-and-for-our-salvation

The above article was published with permission from Miłujcie się! in September 2020.

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