Christmas

The Rt Rev Ruben Cabigting

Chicago

USA

The great festival of Christmas is an annual occasion upon which a great outpouring of divine love and spiritual energy is given throughout the world. This special occasion is a definite action by the Living Christ through his angels to pour down to his people this divine love and spiritual power. It is indeed a great opportunity for each and everyone to willingly receive this gift on Christmas day.

According to Charles Dickens, [following the Gospel ­ Ed] Christmas is a time of "peace to men of goodwill." This Christmas spirit, is the real feeling of brotherhood that is spread throughout the world. Ideally, this feeling of peace to men of goodwill should be for the whole year, but since we cannot feel such noble Christmas heartiness at all times, at least there is a time each year when people practice it. We share our joys on Christmas Day with the unfortunate and are helping towards the realization of the great brotherhood of humanity even for a moment.

Mary of Bethlehem was our immaculate Lady, Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven, Mother of God. We see her in pictures standing on the crescent moon, star-crowned; she nurses her child Jesus, and the cross appears on the back of the chair in which he sits on his mother's knee. The Virgo of the Zodiac is represented in ancient drawings as a woman suckling a child - the type of all future Madonnas with their divine Babes, showing the origin of the symbol.

The relation of the winter solstice to Jesus is also significant. The birth of Mithras was celebrated in the winter solstice with great rejoicing, and Horus was also then born: his birth is one of the greatest mysteries of the Egyptian religion. Pictures representing it appeared on the walls of temples. He was the child of Deity. During Christmas, his image was brought out of the sanctuary with peculiar ceremonies, and similarly the image of the infant Bambino is still being brought out and exhibited in the churches in Rome.

The story of the Nativity is mystical as well as allegorical. The Christ's life is a mystical experience, a birth that continually occurs as the inherent powers of the human Spiritual Self unfold. It is a universal spiritual process that is not confined or limited to only one particular time, place or person.

Allegorically, the three wise men are highly evolved intelligences who assist a candidate who is in the process of undergoing spiritual evolution. The Star of Bethlehem represents the presence of the One Initiator, the king of the world. The inn which was full or crowded typifies the worldly life of men. The stable becomes the hall of initiation. The Virgin Mary represents the causal body, the vesture of light, within which all spiritual birth occurs. The disciplined mind is represented by the obedient and gentle Joseph. The domesticated animals in the stable represent the pure and controlled emotions. The shepherds represent the spiritually evolved persons who come to witness the spiritual birth. The Christmas tree represents the nervous system, and the lights are the various centres of the candidate that are activated during the process and the star at the top of the tree represents the Star of the One Initiator that shines triumphant.

The Christmas festival, therefore, when correctly considered, should take on a new meaning in rejoicing, giving, loving, forgiveness, sanctity and solemnity, so that the whole world would realize brotherhood, oneness, harmony, peace and good will among men.