Christmas is approaching, as it does every year. With December in sight, we would like to offer you a reflection on the Nativity scene.
Generally, the first Nativity scene in the modern sense of the term is considered to be the one staged by Saint Francis of Assisi on Christmas Day in 1223, in the small town of Greccio (near Rieti).
In this sense, the Nativity scene is a sign that helps us experience the anticipation of Christmas more intensely. But, as Pope Francis reminds us, the Nativity scene is also βa living Gospel overflowing from the pages of Sacred Scripture. As we contemplate the Christmas scene, we are invited to set out spiritually, drawn by the humility of the One who became man in order to encounter every human beingβ (Pope Francis, Admirabile signum, 1).
On this journey of rediscovering and bringing Christmas into the present, a special Christmas Novena focused on the characters in the Nativity scene can be helpful. These characters are reinterpreted so that they speak to people today. Each day of the novena offers a meditation on one of the Nativity sceneβs characters, written by a different author each day, so that readers can recognize themselves in that character. Each one tells us something about ourselves: the shepherds who keep watch; the gypsy woman who wants to predict and control the future; the sleeping shepherd, a symbol of all of us when we can no longer cope... Let us bring our Nativity scene to life and make our Christmas come alive!
