Infant Jesus Sisters
22 Hexham Close, Worth, Crawley
RH10 7TZ

West Sussex

UK

E-mail: adminijs@btinternet.com
Website: www.infantjesussisters.org

Christmas 2017
Dearest Sisters and Friends,
Once again we have come to this special time of the year when we celebrate avery natural yet astounding event. God has come to his people in the birth of ababy. The simple story of Christmas is that our God has come among us inJesus, born of Mary at Bethlehem in Judea, and that, in Jesus, God-is-with-us.
The story of Christmas is that we are loved and our sins are forgiven; that alight has shone in our darkness – a light the darkness could not overcome. Godhas sent his Son to be born among us. It is so simple and yet so incredibly wonderful. Each year we make thejourney back to Bethlehem in our hearts to rediscover our own roots in the gift of God wrapped in swaddlingclothes. It is a journey home.
Our Christmas card has been chosen to mark the 50th anniversary of the presence of the Infant Jesus Sisters inAfrica. The sisters in Cameroon are taking a year of preparation before the celebration of this great event in May
next year. The journey to Africa in 1968, a new continent for the sisters, echoes many journeys taken by theInfant Jesus sisters since our foundation more than threehundred and fifty years ago. It was a journey into theunknown, undertaken with the courage and daring that
continues to mark the missionary endeavours we arecurrently involved in with our many friends andcollaborators throughout the world.
The beautiful African scene is full of welcome, shared joyand wonder. The shepherds are the first to hear the goodnews that the long-awaited Messiah has been born inBethlehem. They come from the fields, which you can see
in the background, and are the first to visit Jesus. They
were the people n the fringes of society at the time, regarded as outcasts. These simple, humble people follow theinstructions of the angel in spite of their initial fear and set out immediately to look for the child, “wrapped in
swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” (Lk.2:12).
Each year we hear again the ancient yet timeless Christmas story.
Each year we retell the astonishing entrance that God made into ourbroken world and we are moved in the depths of our being by theconstant surprise of God’s immense love. Something brand-new had
happened: something original and fresh and pristine had been
revealed; nothing would ever be the same again. God made thecrucial choice to break the silence of the ages to give himself away ina Word. The most important Word that God has ever spoken took
flesh in the womb of a teenage girl and like all human flesh was born
as a fragile bundle of new life.

“…we are moved in thedepths of our being by
the constant surprise ofGod’s immense love…”

The mystery of God’s love was made flesh in a child. The length, breadth, depth and height of God's love wassomehow expressed in this little one. God was choosing to visit his people, not through the dreams and words ofthe prophets but in human flesh and bone. The God who abided in the highest heavens chose to live among us.

The Christmas story we hear each year is the same but we are different. Our world is different. Joy and sorrow,
laughter and tears, have wrought changes, for better or for worse, in all our lives. But no matter what changes wehave undergone, what losses we have mourned, what gains we have celebrated, the Christmas story speaks to us
again of new birth and the possibility of our own rebirth. In our celebration of the birth of Jesus this year a newadventure in faith begins. A new approach to God is opened up for us, a new way of relating to each other is
asked of us. It may be an old story, but it is one that is always pregnant with new hope.
God’s message at Christmas is very clear. God speaks to us of hope and tenderness, as Pope Francis tells us.
Hope is so important as of ourselves we can easily lose heart. But God always opens doors for us, he nevercloses them. He opens the doors of compassion, mercy
and forgiveness so that we can lift up our heads again andgo forward in hope, in his unswerving love.
‘Do not be afraid of tenderness’, Pope Francis tells us. In
the helplessness of the baby we see God very close to us,
in precarious circumstances, asking us not only to trustourselves to him but also to express ourselves to him withall the gentleness and tenderness that is in our hearts. Thisis the Lord of love who invites us into a relationship oflove. And in all our loving, we show our own
vulnerability and joy in the tenderness we have for each other. So too it is with the Lord, as the Christmas story
makes so clear.
Christmas is for marvelling at what once took place, but it is also for continuing to give God flesh in the world.
Telling the story means living the story. We become the story of Christmas for those who have never heard it or
no longer believe in it.
The theme of the forthcoming Council of the Institute, “Stay Awake! New ways are opening before us!” reminds
us to ‘wake up the world’ and celebrate the joy of Emmanuel, God-with-us! God’s love, made flesh in Jesus,
takes flesh in each one of us and makes anything possible. Let us pray for one another in preparation for thismeeting in Malaysia, that we may remain awake and alert to possibilities that we may not yet have dreamt of!’In the light of the Christ-child, at Christmas we seek to open our hearts
again to welcome Christ into our lives, not simply to console us in ourdifficulties, but to teach us how to live each day. As Paul said to the young
Titus: ‘God’s grace has been revealed…and taught us that what we haveto do is to give up everything that does not lead to God...to live good
lives…while we are waiting in hope…having no ambition except to dogood’ (Titus 2.11-14).
Who could have known what the birth of this child would mean for Maryand Joseph, the shepherds and the Magi and for all the people down
through the centuries, including each one of us, who prepare every year
for this sign of hope?
Let Emmanuel, God-with-us come to meet us at Christmas. Let us not go
missing. Let him enter. Let him lead. Then we shall indeed be full of thejoy of the knowledge and love of the Lord. Then we shall be ready to
speak to others of the gift and consolation of our faith, inviting them toshare with us in this pathway of life. This is the way of Christmas joy.
As we fall to our knees before the newborn babe of Bethlehem, let us
thank him for all the people and all the gifts in our lives. His outstretchedarms welcome us, always, into the embrace of his love. Oh! Come let us
adore him!
Together with Kimiko, Maria and Noreen, it is my pleasure to wish you and your families
a very happy and holy Christmas,