Che Jesus,

They told me that you came back to be born every Christmas.
Man, you’re crazy!
     …with the stubborn gesture of coming back every Christmas
     you are trying to tell us something.

That the revolution that all proclaim begins first of all
in each one’s heart,
That it doesn’t mean only changing structures but changing
selfishness for love,
That we have to stop being wolves and return to being
      brothers and sisters.
That we….begin to work seriously for
individual conversion and social change
that will give to all the possibility of having bread,
education, freedom, and dignity.

That you have a message called the Gospel,
And a Church, and that’s us –
A Church that wants to be servant of all,
A Church that knows that because God became human
one Christmas
there is no other way to love God but to love all people.
If that’s the way it is, Jesus, come to my house this Christmas,
Come to my country,
Come to the world of men and women.
And first of all, come to my heart.

Anonymous, Cordoba, Argentina, at Christmas, 1970
from Imaging the Word: An Arts and Lectionary Resource, Volume 3
(Cleveland: The United Church Press, 1996), 87.

As Christmas day approaches, this poem reminds us of the stubbornness of God’s persistence in coming to us. This year we are all finding new ways to celebrate the season. Whatever your 2020-style celebration looks like, I pray it is one in which you experience this persistent presence of God. May our hearts receive the gift of God’s powerful love, strong enough to transform us all.

Merry Christmas,