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Christmas, the God of the little ones and those who are distant

Dec 23, 2017

The God Child invites us to look for him in those who are least, putting into action a culture of welcome and inclusion. And, as children, to feel that we are acknowledged and welcomed by him.

A child who gets lost winds up in a place that’s not home. Yes, at Christmas time God got lost – not only like a boy child, but as a child – in a place where he was no longer at home. He didn’t remain within the enclosed happiness of Heaven, or within the confines of our devotional space. He got lost for the little ones and the poor, for those who are sick and in mourning, for sinners, for those we consider far from God, those we think have nothing to do with God. God got lost right where the prodigal son got lost – far from his father’s home – so he could return to the Father in him and with him. God got lost as a child not by mistake, but by the most divine gesture God could make. God is the God of all, or else he isn’t God. God is the God of the little ones and the ones far off, or else he isn’t God. “Let yourself be found where you, God, were lost as a child. Yes, let us become a child in whom you lose yourself for others, for everybody!” Klaus Hemmerle. La luce dentro le cose (Rome: Città Nuova, 1998) 395.  

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