Christmas is a time that opens us to the greatest gift ever given in human history. The story of this greatest gift ever given is a story of love peace, mercy and hope. It is also a story of humility and sacrifice. Cradle and the cross come to gather to give us Christ at Christmas. Usually, our eyes are fixed on the cradle and events around cradle during Christmas. We seem to forget the cross at Christmas. Yet the cradle is not without the cross. The seeds of the cross are already in the cradle. Christmas cannot be fully understood without the relationship of the cradle with cross. The meditation on the cradle takes us to the cross. The innocent Babe in the manger takes us to the innocent crucified on the cross. Hence , we cannot forget the cross while we celebrate the cradle. There is no Christmas without Christ and there is no Christ without the cross.
Cradle is a picture of joy and hope. It inhabits innocence and stands for life. Cross on the other hand, stands for pain, suffering and sacrifice, torture and death. The cross is linked to the cradle. One who is born is born to die on the cross but the journey to cradle is also a step to the journey to the cross. The cradle does not just wraps the cross, it also exudes the joy of the risen Christ. This is why the cradle, the cross and the Christ belong together.
Because, Mary and Joseph embraced the cross, without fully knowing it , we have the cradle. thier embrace of the cross is visible from the annunciation, the discernment of Joseph in his dream, the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, to the birth in the stable. All through these stages, we can trace the seeds that foreshadow the cross. The joy of the cradle is also the joy resurrection. Indeed! the joy of the cradle was shared and proclaimed by the angels and the shepherds. They anticipated the joy of ressurection.
Indeed, the Holy Babe in the manger is the one who is born to die. Cradle in Bethlehem anticipates the Cross at the Calvary. That fact that the Infant Jesus in laid in the manger also indicates that he will become our spiritual food for us. The cradle carries the Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Sunda within it. At several levels, the cradle anticipates the cross and the victory of the cross. We can trace the Pascal Mystery in the cradle.
There is a cross in the cradle. This cross in an empty cross. It is cross waiting for the fuller enfleshment of the Body of Jesus. Empty cross is getting ready to embrace body of Jesus crucified for our us. It is getting ready for the Good Friday. It is waiting for the suffering Christ. The Holy Babe in the cradle is pointing to Jesus crucified on the cross. We, therefore, cannot think of the cradle without thinking of the cross.
But the cradle also embeds the empty tomb. It signifies the victory of the cross, the crowd of Jesus Christ. The cross and the victory of the cross remains condensed in the cradle. This is why the cradle brings us contentment, peace, joy and love. Coming to the cradle can new birth to us. We can die to our old life and become a new creation in Christ. Coming to the cradle is opening of ourselves to the greatest gift given to humanity. This is why we have the imperative to set Christ as the center of our life. Christmas then will happen to us. It will make Christ happen to us. Only when Christ happens to us , Jesus will be center of our CHRISTmas. It is only through the cradle and the cross that we can participate in the crown of Christ.
