Christmas message: Come, adore on bended knees

Christmas celebration is here again! But as believers in Christ, who is sent by the Father, Christmas is not just one of the celebrations that we celebrate in Malaysia.  Very often I have a sense that when we greet one another “Happy Christmas’, it is just a casual celebration greeting which we do with other celebrations. The question is, how aware and convinced are we that the core of our Christmas greetings and Carols is the Love of God for us expressed in the birth of Jesus (Jn.3:16) who dwells among us (Jn. 1:14). As believers in Christ, it is important therefore that we are convinced in what we do, say, and celebrate at Christmas. Let us not be drowned in or be intoxicated with the worldly Christmas celebration in our midst!

I believe that it is only when we are convinced, then we become committed. In this case it is our commitment to the person of Jesus. He is in our midst and is always with us till the end of time (Mt.28:20). It is sad to know that there are many Baptized Christians who remain baptized only but have not made serious effort to build a strong personal relationship with the person of Jesus, nor rooted in or built up on Him (Col.2:6-7). The same goes with our commitment as Priests, Religious and Laity. If our conviction and commitment in the person of Jesus is poor, then our witnessing as Christians in our society will be poor, or even lacking!

We are all aware of the challenges we face today as Christians. We are aware of the violent persecutions suffered by Christians in the Middle East countries like Iraq and Syria. In our own country of 1Malaysia, we are facing threats, both openly and slyly, because we are Christians. I usually remind our faithful that we don’t have the power and the money to overcome the threats. There are times when our poor people are tempted to disown Jesus for some Ringgit Malaysia! But if we are convinced and committed that Jesus is our Strength, Wisdom, and Guarantee in both our present suffering life and eternal life, then we must heed His assurance, “I have told you all this so that you may find peace in Me. In the world you will have hardship, but be courageous, I have conquered the world” (Jn. 16:33).

Let us celebrate this Christmas taking the opportunity to praise and thank God for His Love expressed in the person of Jesus who is with us. He is our light in this world darkened by sins. To express our conviction and commitment, let us COME, ADORE HIM ON BENDED KNEE!