Editorial: CHRISTMAS IS DIALOGUE

Christmas Is Dialogue

D  ialogue is rare. We talk to one another, we hear one another but seldom do we dialogue with each other.

Yet dialogue is the life-blood of community. Without it nations become enemies, families crumble, marriages fail, religious life fades away. Dialogue is an essential element of human society. Even more. Dialogue is necessary in order to be who we truly are; images of God. For, God is dialogue.

Our God is not a solitary God. Rather, the triune God – Love itself – is the interpenetrating community of the Father; the eternal, infinite Speaking: and of the Son; the Word eternally Being Spoken: and of the Holy Spirit: the Breath of the Father speaking the Word. Our triune God is a loving, sharing, ever-present-in-each-other; the characteristics of true dialogue.

Dialogue is at the Heart of . . .

It is not surprising then that dialogue is at the heart of the Advent / Christmas mystery. We are celebrating the joyful news that the Father freely chooses to breathe the eternal Word outside of the divine life. The entire cosmos has as its ultimate purpose to be the hearers of this Word, to respond to the dialogue which God initiates with us in Christ Jesus. For, he is the divine Word who “became flesh and dwelt among us”.  (Jn. 1:14).

It is not that God was mute before the incarnation. Creation itself reveals the glory of God. Through the prophets God taught us to hope for salvation. It is through the voice of Moses, the Almighty gave us the commandments. Through inspired authors God’s thoughts were expressed, the Lord’s unconditional love disclosed. “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our ancestors by the prophets . . . ”.  (Heb.  1:1).

. . . the Christmas Mystery

Nonetheless, it is only in Mary that God fully enters into dialogue with creation. For it is only in her and through her consent that the eternal Word itself becomes enfleshed. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands; the Word of life . . . ”.  (1 Jn 1:1).

Christmas is the entry into our human family of a new voice: the eternal Word of God. “But in these last days God has spoken to us by a Son” (Heb 1:2). The divine Word enters into full dialogue with us, a loving, sharing, ever-present with us and in us. The eternal Being Spoken, the Word, now speaks with human tongue and as the voice of creation, cries out in redeeming love to the Father.  The human birth of the eternal Word teaches us the true meaning of dialogue. It must mirror the essential characteristics of the divine dialogue with us which we celebrate this holy season: loving, sharing, present-to-each-other, for the glory of God Alone.

Our Communication Must Spring from Love and Lead To Love.

Our communication with each other must spring from love and lead to a more intense love. This entails respect, openness. Moreover, all dialogue must have as its ultimate goal, the glory of God Alone. Authentic dialogue strengthens our oneness with the incarnate Word. It must also be a true sharing of life, not just of the weather report. Finally, it demands presence. As God only fully enters into dialogue with us when personally present to us in Christ Jesus, so our dialogue with each other requires being-present. The fullness of dialogue is not only to read the words of another, not only to hear the other’s voice but to be personally with the other. Evidently, this is not always feasible or even called for at every moment. But presence characteristic of full dialogue strives to share one table, one roof, one heart and soul, one prayer.

Is our community – family, parish, diocese, religious order – in authentic dialogue? Are our communities in dialogue with others, especially with the poor? Jesus, the enfleshed dialogue of God with us, lovingly asks us these challenging questions during this Advent / Christmastide so that we may truly be the family of God, the Body of the incarnate Word, Christ
Jesus our Lord.