Christmas Message 2002
John Michael Talbot

Brothers and Sisters,

Peace and Good in Christ!

We live in a post 9/11 world. Peace seems far away as nations prepare for war. We are told that the threat of weapons of mass destruction are being leveled at our nation and her allies. Threats of chemical and biological weapons come from Iraq, and of nuclear weapons from North Korea. Both are as frightening as the destruction feared during the cold war.

We are also aware that peace is far from the Holy Land, where Israelis and Palestinians continue to propagate the cycle of violence that ends in mutual destruction. Likewise, India and Pakistan are poised with nuclear weapons fixed upon each other.

It seems incredible that just a few years after the end of the cold war that promised so much peace, that so many places of violence on a massive scale are now evident. As scripture says, "When people are saying, 'Peace and security,' then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape." (1 Th. 5:3). But St. Paul goes on to say, "But you, brothers, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness." (1 Th. 5:4-5).

So it is in the face of such violence that the birth of the Prince of Peace in the Christmas celebration is more relevant, and its message needed more urgently, than ever before. The Prince of Peace shows us the way for peace, a way that the world cannot understand or give.

What is this way? It is the way where the Most Powerful takes on the from of a weak and vulnerable Child, where the rich become poor, the Creator becomes the created, and the Word is proclaimed in a sacred silence that has now gone forth throughout the ages. As St. Paul says, "Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Php2:5-11).

This is not a peace that comes from through socio political programs or strategies. It is a peace that must begin in the human heart. Only then will our programs have any lasting effect.

Many years ago I was inspired that only forgiveness will heal the Holy Land. The Holy Land is an intensely condensed symbol of so many conflicts throughout our world today. Justice and "getting even" simply will not work. Justice is usually filled with the need for human revenge. Plus, even with a justice free of revenge everyone has their own definition of justice, and their own very developed arguments to support their position. So it ends once more in arguments that lead to frustration, anger, and violence that ends in destruction and death.

No, only the message of Jesus, and all those whose message is similar, can heal such situations upon our earth. What is this way? It is the way of forgiveness. That is why Pope John Paul II says that peace must begin with justice, but real justice cannot be established without forgiveness.

What can it do? It enables us to look way beyond the sophisticated developments in our false maturity, and looks deeply to the original child of God within. It forgives and looks beyond the web of developments that create the opinionated self that is not at peace with itself, nor with many others outside of the themselves as well. Through forgiveness of all such false sophistication it is able to see that original child of God within even the worst terrorist or most power hungry government leader.

But this must begin within ourselves before we can share it to others. St. Francis says to make sure that the peace we proclaim to others is first a reality within our own lives. So each of us must allow the Prince of Peace within ourselves before we can use its power in our approach with others.

This Christmas instead of holding on to our false sophistication and ideas and opinions may we allow our false self to simply fall away peacefully through the Way of the Christ Child. Even so many of our religious thoughts and opinions are not really from God, but are only the continued effort of our ego to stay in control under the guise of religion. Then we will once again be in touch with, and once more become, the little child of love, joy, and peace within. This is the child, the real person, whom God created us to be in the first place.

As we do this all frustration and anger that lead to violence in thought, word, and action will simply fall away and cease to take up so much of our time, thought and energy. We will be set free through the way of Christ. Then, and perhaps only then, we will have true good news to proclaim to our greatly troubled world this Christmas. It is the message of changed hearts and minds, of spirits and souls, indeed of living and life, through the way of the Christ Child.

But most of these "big" ideas are tested in the little things of daily life. Where is this? Can we forgive when we do not get our own way about domestic things? In the monastery this is discovered in the kitchen washing dishes, or out in the garden growing a "green bean for God." It is the little stuff of life that often makes us the most angry. Yet, if we cannot find peace there, then there is little chance that we could translate it to the bigger issues that threaten the peace of the entire world. We carry the whole world in the microcosm of the human heart.

So this year let us earnestly follow this way of peace ourselves, and pray for it throughout the world. As scripture says, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," and indeed of all our world. God knows we need it.

May God richly bless you with His faith, hope, and charity in Christ and His Church, and grant you a truly Holy Christmas and a most prosperous new year in the Lord.

In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder and General Minister
Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage