Annunciation, by Fra Angelico
1 don’t like to consider the idea of fear when I’m in the holiday season. I want to be in consistent joy. However, the Christmas and Christian message is a lot about dealing with fear. Mary must have felt some when Angel Gabriel visited; Joseph didn’t have an easy job on the way to Bethlehem; the wise men feared Herod—and we haven’t even gotten through the first two chapters of Luke. In the Gospels, though parable and action, Jesus helps us with ways to conquer fear.
Our faith just doesn’t let us forget that in order to embrace the message of joy, we have to face pain--our own, that of those we know and love, and the of the world. We need to go through this fearful pain in order to come to the epiphany that we do not need to be afraid because God is with us. Jesus had to experience the Crucifixion before the Resurrection. So do we.
“Oh, come oh come Emmanuel.”
Luke 1.30
Our faith just doesn’t let us forget that in order to embrace the message of joy, we have to face pain--our own, that of those we know and love, and the of the world. We need to go through this fearful pain in order to come to the epiphany that we do not need to be afraid because God is with us. Jesus had to experience the Crucifixion before the Resurrection. So do we.
“Oh, come oh come Emmanuel.”
Luke 1.30
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