THE CHRISTMAS STORY PART ONE
In a Paris apartment above the river Seine, on Christmas Eve.
‘Papa, tell us the story of Christmas,’ urged Claire.
‘Yes, please do, papa,’ said Anabella.
‘Do let papa get off his coat,’ Edward scolded. ‘Papa, look at you! You are like a snowman!’
‘Yes, I suppose I am. It has stopped snowing but you see I got into a snow fight.’
‘A snow fight!’ they all chorused.
‘Yes, some big boys were throwing snowballs at two small boys, just round the corner, so I joined the little boys and as you can see, I am like a snowman. Edward, don’t be too hard on your sisters, pull up some chairs round the fire and I will soon join you.’
‘Yes papa.’
Mr. Ravier had been delivering parcels to the homeless all day. He always did this on Christmas Eve. Soon they were all seated around the fire. Mr. Revier had a pot of hot coffee and a croissant and was soon warm and comfortable.
‘Where should I begin,’ he said, thinking out loud.
‘Papa, where did Christmas come from?’ Anabella asked.
‘That is quite a question, Anabella.’
‘I would like to know who wrote the story,’ Edward said. ‘I can’t find anything under authors or subjects on the Internet and the school library only has picture books.’
‘I might have expected that, Edward. Christmas came before anyone wrote about it.’
‘So nobody wrote the story!’
‘The story of Christmas was told after Christmas day, not by one person but by many who were there at the time.’
‘Then it is history, not fiction, papa,’ Claire said, opening her eyes wide.
‘I think before answering your questions I ought to tell you the story from the beginning. Christmas is much more than history, Claire, as you shall see.
Christmas came from a place called Paradise. Heaven is what you see when all the stars are shining on an inky black night. Paradise is not seen at all because it is too many light years away from earth. It is sometimes called heaven, too, or the kingdom of heaven, because it is a place of happiness and peace.’
{Reference: Paradise: Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4.}
CHRISTMAS A BIG SECRET
‘For many centuries before Christmas, prophets spoke of a King. He was to be no ordinary king, but a king whose kingdom would last forever. All over the middle east as far as Egypt and beyond people heard of this king or Messiah. What would he be like? Would he conquer the world and bring God’s rule on earth? Would he be a mighty warrior? There was a great expectation that he would be like King David and restore Jerusalem to its former glory. But there was no clear picture of who the king was or what he would do. No one ever imagined that this king would be sent from heaven. No one ever imagined the biggest secret ever kept from men’s eyes or the eyes of evil spirits. Christmas was a secret and that is why no one, absolutely no one, knew about it, save God in heaven. It had to be that way because Christmas was going to change the future for ever and so it had to be kept safe from those who did not want to change anything. As you will see, keeping Christmas a secret from the world, was imperative.
CHRIST’S COMING ANNOUNCED TO MARY
Christmas means Christ’s coming, or the coming king of heaven. When the time was right God prepared the way for Christ’s coming into the world. He sent an angel to a young woman who was getting ready to be married to a man called Joseph whose ancestor was king David. She was a good woman who waited for the Messiah to come, not knowing when or how but believing that one day he would come to save people from their sins and deliver them from suffering and death. Her good heart saw the sins of the people, their violence, cruelty and wickedness and their unfaithfulness to God. It was to this young woman that the angel Gabrielle came and greeted her,
‘Hail Mary! You are favoured highly by God!’
She was very afraid. What manner of greeting was this?
‘Don't be frightened, Mary,’ the angel told her, ‘for God has decided to wonderfully bless you! Very soon now, you will become pregnant and have a baby boy, and you are to name him 'Jesus.' He shall be very great and shall be called the Son of God.’ {TLB}
Her mind reeled as she tried to take in this announcement. How could she, a virgin, become pregnant with a baby? So Mary asked the angel, ‘How can this be seeing I know not a man?’
In a Paris apartment above the river Seine, on Christmas Eve.
‘Papa, tell us the story of Christmas,’ urged Claire.
‘Yes, please do, papa,’ said Anabella.
‘Do let papa get off his coat,’ Edward scolded. ‘Papa, look at you! You are like a snowman!’
‘Yes, I suppose I am. It has stopped snowing but you see I got into a snow fight.’
‘A snow fight!’ they all chorused.
‘Yes, some big boys were throwing snowballs at two small boys, just round the corner, so I joined the little boys and as you can see, I am like a snowman. Edward, don’t be too hard on your sisters, pull up some chairs round the fire and I will soon join you.’
‘Yes papa.’
Mr. Ravier had been delivering parcels to the homeless all day. He always did this on Christmas Eve. Soon they were all seated around the fire. Mr. Revier had a pot of hot coffee and a croissant and was soon warm and comfortable.
‘Where should I begin,’ he said, thinking out loud.
‘Papa, where did Christmas come from?’ Anabella asked.
‘That is quite a question, Anabella.’
‘I would like to know who wrote the story,’ Edward said. ‘I can’t find anything under authors or subjects on the Internet and the school library only has picture books.’
‘I might have expected that, Edward. Christmas came before anyone wrote about it.’
‘So nobody wrote the story!’
‘The story of Christmas was told after Christmas day, not by one person but by many who were there at the time.’
‘Then it is history, not fiction, papa,’ Claire said, opening her eyes wide.
‘I think before answering your questions I ought to tell you the story from the beginning. Christmas is much more than history, Claire, as you shall see.
Christmas came from a place called Paradise. Heaven is what you see when all the stars are shining on an inky black night. Paradise is not seen at all because it is too many light years away from earth. It is sometimes called heaven, too, or the kingdom of heaven, because it is a place of happiness and peace.’
{Reference: Paradise: Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4.}
CHRISTMAS A BIG SECRET
‘For many centuries before Christmas, prophets spoke of a King. He was to be no ordinary king, but a king whose kingdom would last forever. All over the middle east as far as Egypt and beyond people heard of this king or Messiah. What would he be like? Would he conquer the world and bring God’s rule on earth? Would he be a mighty warrior? There was a great expectation that he would be like King David and restore Jerusalem to its former glory. But there was no clear picture of who the king was or what he would do. No one ever imagined that this king would be sent from heaven. No one ever imagined the biggest secret ever kept from men’s eyes or the eyes of evil spirits. Christmas was a secret and that is why no one, absolutely no one, knew about it, save God in heaven. It had to be that way because Christmas was going to change the future for ever and so it had to be kept safe from those who did not want to change anything. As you will see, keeping Christmas a secret from the world, was imperative.
CHRIST’S COMING ANNOUNCED TO MARY
Christmas means Christ’s coming, or the coming king of heaven. When the time was right God prepared the way for Christ’s coming into the world. He sent an angel to a young woman who was getting ready to be married to a man called Joseph whose ancestor was king David. She was a good woman who waited for the Messiah to come, not knowing when or how but believing that one day he would come to save people from their sins and deliver them from suffering and death. Her good heart saw the sins of the people, their violence, cruelty and wickedness and their unfaithfulness to God. It was to this young woman that the angel Gabrielle came and greeted her,
‘Hail Mary! You are favoured highly by God!’
She was very afraid. What manner of greeting was this?
‘Don't be frightened, Mary,’ the angel told her, ‘for God has decided to wonderfully bless you! Very soon now, you will become pregnant and have a baby boy, and you are to name him 'Jesus.' He shall be very great and shall be called the Son of God.’ {TLB}
Her mind reeled as she tried to take in this announcement. How could she, a virgin, become pregnant with a baby? So Mary asked the angel, ‘How can this be seeing I know not a man?’