The Creche at Greccio was the first reenactment of the nativity, conceived and executed by no less than St. Francis of Assisi, using real animals and a live infant. St. Francis had a deep connection with the mystery of the incarnation and how less could it be preached but through a nativity scene. Thomas of Celesno, the Saints biographer, describes what happened the first time the Crèche was set up. Following this, Brother Andrew, a Franciscan, shares his reflections. The Crèche at Greccio Finally, the day of joy has drawn near, the time of exultation has come. From many different places the brethren have been called. As they could, the men and woman of that land with exultant hearts prepared candles and torches to light up that night whose shining star has enlightened every day and year. Finally, the holy man of God [St. Francis] comes and, finding all things prepared, he saw them and was glad. Indeed, the manger is prepared, the hay is carried in, and the ox and the ass are led to the spot. There simplicity is given a place of honor, poverty is exalted, humility is commended, and Greccio is made a new Bethlehem. (The Life of St. Francis, Thomas of Celano) From quovadisfrater.blogspot/2013/11/the-creche-at-greccio.html#more St. Francis of Assisi is attributed as being the first one to make a Christmas Crèche, or Nativity scene. This story has a lot to teach us, not only about Christmas as a celebration of the incarnation of the Word, but also about poverty, humility, and true joy. This is a challenging story for our culture. When you see the commercials on TV during the Christmas season, something tells me the message is not poverty and humility. The commercial may be trying to sell joy, but the joy they are trying to sell is only a superficial joy tailored for our consumer culture. This joy is rooted only in material gain and instant gratification. I always enjoy reading this story before Christmas. This time, when I read it, I realized how important Christmas is to my own Franciscan spirituality. I would like to share a few reflections I had on the different parts of this story. Finally, the day of joy has drawn near… This phrase quickly jumped out at me. It is a reminder to me that Christmas is a time of great joy, and that as a Franciscan, joy has an important role to play in my vocation. St. Francis often speaks of joy, and it leads one to wonder: what is true joy, what is perfect joy? We would not be the first to ask such a question; in fact Br. Leo, an early companion of St. Francis, asked Francis himself the same question. This is one of the stories taken from The Little Flowers of St. Francis. There is no need to share the whole story here, but I will give a quick summery of what happened. One day when St. Francis and Br. Leo were walking back home after a long journey, Br. Leo asked Francis, What is perfect joy? St. Francis answered: That when we arrive at the friary, and the porter does not recognize us as his brothers and shuts the door in our face, and sends us away into the dark night to stay outside in the snow, cold and hungry; if we endure all this suffering patiently without getting upset; O Br. Leo write, that here is perfect joy. At first glance it is hard to see joy in that situation; I admit that it would be very hard for me to remain joyful and patient if that ever happened to me. However this story connects two things, it’s seemingly a paradox. Francis was able to join together joy and suffering, he was able to show the world by his example that the two can be united. What does this have to do with Christmas? The story of perfect joy alongside the story of the Creche at Greccio, reveals the connection between the birth of Christ and the Cross. The birth is not separated from the cross. Francis was able to see this, and was able to unite his own suffering to the sufferings of Christ. Francis tells us: In the Cross of trouble and affliction we can glory, as the Apostle says, I do not want to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must keep in mind that Christmas is truly a time of great joy, but as we see this is a joy which is far beyond material things; this is a joy deeply rooted in love: For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) …There simplicity is given a place of honor, poverty is exalted… This year I have plenty of time to reflect upon poverty; it is one of the vows that I will be making upon the completion of my Novitiate year, God willing! That is probably the reason why this part of the story caught my attention. In todays world, in our culture it is difficult to place poverty and Christmas next to each other. Everything we see and hear in the secular media during the Christmas season, is the exact opposite of poverty. We are bombarded with messages that tell us more is better, this thing will make you happy, it will make the people around you happy, it will make you cool. The reality is that this preoccupation with material wealth has made us bound to our things. Connecting poverty with Christmas does not mean that material things are bad, but that we are not bound to them, not enslaved to them; they do not become the most important thing in our lives. Things are necessary to have in our world, people need clothes, a car, a cell phone, books, but we cannot overlook the fact that all these things are just tools for our use in this world. We cannot place things above people, as Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once said, “You must remember to love people and use things, rather than to love things and use people.” The message of Franciscan poverty is simple, it is about not being attached to material wealth, it means to live with something as if you did not have it, and not to be consumed with greed for the things that we do not have. To live with the minimum necessary, not the most allowed. By becoming free of attachments we will discover a true freedom, and in freedom realize that we truly are created in the image and likeness of God; God who came into this world as a baby and was laid in manger. “… Humility is commended…” Humility is key to understanding Christmas; in fact, I think Christmas is all about humility. This is something that continues to hit me every year, one can spend hours contemplating and meditating upon the incarnation. This is something that simply blows my mind every time I think about it. The humility of the incarnation is beyond understanding. Ponder for a moment: God, Most High, Most Holy, all powerful, all good, perfect love, creator of the universe, without limits; chose to come into our world as a poor, defenseless child and was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Now I understand better why, as Celano writes, “The humility of the incarnation and the charity of the passion … always occupied the mind of St. Francis.” If humility is such an important part of Christmas, where do we see it today? How do we live a humble life, as we are inspired to do through the example of the incarnation itself? Another question: what is humility? Humility is first of all NOT based upon the idea of putting yourself down, or being ashamed of who you are. A self shaming concept of humility is never true humility. Shame is self judgment; it is self destructive to the spiritual life, it makes us unable to unite our sufferings to Christ and this will never lead us to joy. True humility is based upon the awareness of who you are. True humility is the utter acceptance of who you are, it is not pretending to be someone you are not. To grow in humility you must stop being embarrassed of who you are, acceptance of your gifts and faults. To be humble means seeing yourself as you are and realizing that God loves you, you are the beloved of God. Blessed Mother Teresa is one of the best modern day examples of true humility, she tells us from her own experience, “If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.” Humility is something people naturally run from, humility can hurt! However, if we wish to grow in humility, we must realize that we will be humiliated; it won’t be easy. If we look at the big picture, going back to realizing that Christmas is about joy, we will also realize that during our time of suffering, our time of humiliation; during the time of all our pains and struggles, God is a companion to us. The challenge is to see that He walks with us, in our suffering. Saint Padre Pio reminds us of this truth when he says, “Never separate the cross from Jesus’ love; otherwise it would become a weight which, in our weakness we could not carry.” Whenever I struggle with my own pride I find comfort in Psalm 131, take the Psalm with you to prayer. The Psalm is a reminder of humble trust in God and His will. “The man of God stands before the manger, filled with heartfelt sighs… and overcome with wondrous joy.”(The Life of St. Francis, Celano) Remember that Christmas is about joy, joy which can be found even in the poverty of the manger and the humility of the incarnation.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 08:37:33 +0000