Introduction to The Christmas Story

The Christmas story is a tale with a little something for everyone. No matter what genre of literature you like, it’s here in the story of Christmas. You like mystery? Here are some wise men trying to find an unknown King by following a new star. You like intrigue? Here is a king plotting the assassination of his infant opponent. You like horror? Here is the slaughter of countless innocent children for the gratification of a wicked king. You like science fiction or fantasy? Here are extraterrestrials appearing all over the place, pulling the strings; here is the virgin birth of a being whose Father is God and whose mother is a human girl. You like romance? Here is the story of a man who loves a woman so much that he is willing to risk everything to protect her both from ill repute and from those who seek to kill her child. You like adventure? Here is a story of a family forced to flee their home and journey through strange lands until the one seeking to kill their child is himself dead.

So many different characters are at play: heavenly angels, evil kings, mysterious magicians from the East, lowly shepherds, priests and prophets, and a God who leaves his glory behind to take up the lowly form of a babe in swaddling clothes, in such abject poverty that he has no place to call home or even to lay his head except a feeding trough. It is no wonder that this story, written down by a tax collector and a physician two thousand years ago, has captured the imagination of so many over the centuries.

And yet, this story is so much more. It is an account of the deepest reality, so deep that twenty centuries of contemplation and theology have only begun to skim the surface of its meaning. It is an account of the unchanging God and creator of the universe taking on a changeable human nature in order to elevate humanity to a place not only of right relationship and communion with that one God but of participation in his own divine nature. It is the greatest exchange in the history of the world. The King of creation appears as a helpless babe with nothing to his name, and yet this tiny infant brings terror to King Herod, awe to the shepherds and the magi, joy to his mother and the prophets in the Temple, and peace to people of good will.

This story is worth telling and retelling year after year after year. It is worth reflecting on and contemplating the deep mystery involved. It is for this reason that we present here two versions of the nativity. The first is the Gospel accounts brought together and arranged by Tatian, a second-century Syrian Father who managed to organise the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John in such a way that the three infancy narratives line up into a single complete narrative. The second is the “Protoevangelium of James,” a second-century attempt at filling in various gaps left by the four gospels but which may hand on some authentic tradition regarding Mary’s childhood.

In between the two narratives are two brief pieces. The first is a poem by St. Robert Southwell, a sixteenth-century English martyr, which describes the vision of the infant Jesus lamenting that the fire of his great love for sinners is neglected by those for whom he was born and died. The second St. Bonaventure’s account of St. Francis of Assisi and the first Christmas creche, an example of Francis’ great love for the poor Christ and zeal for making him known.

As we make our way through these accounts of the birth of Christ, may we contemplate the mystery of his burning love so that we in turn may be willing to give up everything for his sake.

Aaron P. Debusschere
Editor