Maria Garcia de Fleury is a Venezuelan sociologist with a degree in religious education and the president of the worldwide apostolate of the Virgin of Coromoto. She sent us a true story she experienced in first person: a precious anecdote that invites us to reflect on our relationship with the Baby who is about to be born. Here is the story as she told it:
We went to an orphanage, called Casa Hogar de Niños, in the town of Sabaneta, en el Hatillo (near Caracas, Ed.). At this orphanage, we met many children from our own country and others who were immigrants. In some cases, like that of the central person in this story, the children were still bruised from the beatings they had received before arriving there.
We went with the purpose of telling them the Christmas story. We began to tell them about Mary and Joseph, how they arrived in Bethlehem, and how, finding no room in any inn, they had to make themselves comfortable in a stable to shelter from the cold of the night. We explained how there, between a mule and an ox, the infant Jesus was born, and laid in a manger.
The children and staff listened to every word with rapt attention. When we finished the story, we gave each child three pieces of cardboard to make a manger, a small square of paper from a yellow napkin to make strips of straw, and a small square of cloth from an old flannel nightgown to make a blanket to warm the baby Jesus. Lastly, for the finishing touch, we gave them a piece of brown felt from which to cut out the figure of the baby.
While they were working, I stopped by the tables, and was surprised by the work of little Andrew, a boy who was about 6 years old. In Andrew’s manger, there was not one child but two! So I asked Andres: “Why are there two babies in the manger?”
The little boy repeated to me the whole story we had just told him, but he created his own ending: “When Mary put Jesus in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had somewhere to go. I told him ‘no,’ that I didn’t know my father or my mother, and that I had no place to go. Then Jesus told me that I could be there with Him.”
“I told Jesus I couldn’t, because I didn’t have any gifts to give Him. But I wanted to stay with Him, so it occurred to me that a good gift was to give Him my warmth. I asked Him, ‘Jesus, if I give you warmth, would that be a good gift for you?’ And Jesus answered me, ‘If you give me warmth, that will be the best gift I have ever received.’ So I went into the manger with Him. Then Jesus looked at me and said, ‘You can stay here forever!’”
When he finished his story, little Andrew’s eyes sparkled, and tears soaked his cheeks. He had met someone who would never abandon him, never abuse him. Someone who would give him security, love and trust. Someone who would be with him forever.
This Christmas, let us seek friendship with God, the friend who never fails.
And today we celebrate...