Born in poverty in Bethlehem

Photo by Salah Darwish on Unsplash

Fr Shay Cullen writes: When Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem 2024 years ago, it was a miracle that he or his mother survived. It was not a happy birth. Saint Luke tells us that it was an awful experience. Joseph and Mary were not allowed into the hostel, and with the birth of Jesus imminent, they had to shelter in a dirty, smelly animal cave on a hillside. Jesus was born in dire poverty, surrounded by dirt, animal dung and bad smells, without sanitation, water, light or medical help. The weather was bitterly cold and they likely had little food. Mary, an unmarried pregnant mother promised in marriage to Joseph, was like outcasts in Bethlehem, unwelcome migrants, barred from getting warm shelter in a place that was not their own.

It was the worst time of all for Mary. She was nine months pregnant and with Joseph she had travelled 90 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register for a census. That was a rough journey of four days and nights on a donkey because of the cruel order of the Emperor Augustus. He was an egotistical dictator who abolished Roman democracy and ordered a census of the Roman Empire so he could boast about how many humans were under his harsh rule. Everyone had to register in their ancestral home town and Joseph was in Bethlehem, the birthplace of David.

They were an exhausted, tired and hungry couple and the journey brought on the birth of her son Jesus. There were no friends or relatives to welcome and shelter them. It was a humiliating experience, witnessed only by some of the poorest of the poor- shepherds. He was to be called the "Son of God" so there has to be an explanation why he was born in such impoverished circumstances? Mary and Jesus barely survived; he could have died soon after as millions of impoverished new born babies do every day due to poverty and lack of sanitation.

The explanation for this hard reality of his birth is the message above all messages. It was a calculated, vital statement for all history and it says that Jesus of Nazareth was born into the world as one with the poor, for the poor and of the poor. That message is loud and clear: that God became man and chose to be a poor deprived person in solidarity and oneness with the millions of deprived, suffering poor people, especially children in the world.

He was born one of the poor, lived like them, and with them and for them, and he died, as many of the poor die, innocent and unjustly accused, made to suffer and branded a criminal and executed for trying to replace the social inequality and injustice with freedom, justice, love of neighbor, trust, compassion and friendship.

He stands today with the 16 million Filipinos in dire poverty and will continue to do so. His invitation to the leaders and wealthy of society and the world to change and share their vast wealth with the poor and the abused, bring social justice to all especially the children, has gone ignored and ridiculed. They choose not to repent and it seems the world today with five wars ongoing and a billion and more near starvation has done the same. Has the mission of Jesus of Nazareth failed these 16 million in dire poverty and the other 700 million starving poor that cannot survive on US$2.5 a day? In all, there are 3.5 billion impoverished people in the world today and millions continue to fall lower into dire or extreme poverty.

Jesus of Nazareth has not failed the starving downtrodden people. We have, society has, governments have, the rich have, and the Church as an institution has. That's because too many people are complicit in human exploitation and not sharing the wealth with the poor and working to create just and fair society which Jesus of Nazareth lived and died for.

Too many well-off people with riches, economic and political power, and the ability to transform society to a just community, have ignored or have rejected his values, ideals, life and message. They have in fact condemned 700 million men, women and children in extreme poverty and 3.5 billion in poverty to a life of misery, hunger, pain and early death. Jesus took a prophetic stand and challenged the roots of injustice and so should we.

It is not the dedicated social activists that work for Gospel values of social justice and equality that are the enemy of the people. It is the selfish, exploitative rich and corrupt industrialists and politicians and family dynasties that are the enemy of the people and the poor. Jesus of Nazareth, calls on them to repent and change if they want to be forgiven. He said it clearly: "The time has now come, the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the Good News. (Mark ch.1:15) "I have come. . . to call those that know they are sinners and need to repent. (Luke 5:31-32) Unless you repent, you will all perish likewise." (Luke 13:5).

This man of God, born an outcast in a cave, son of a carpenter, a person of pure intent and having fearless integrity, defended the poor, the vulnerable and the abused. He made it clear that the children are the most important of all. "They who accept a child in my name accept me," he said, identifying with them. He had tough words for child abusers, "Those who cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me, let a millstone be tied around his neck and he be thrown into the deep sea." (Matthew 18: 16 -17.)

When celebrating the birth of Jesus, we must know his message and mission and accept his invitation to follow him.

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Fr Shay is a Columban Missionary working in the Philippines. Read more about his work here: www.preda.org