A little paper, a little clay to model the characters…
Nothing more modest than a crib made with love and patience! However, the memory of this birth is not insignificant. Christmas is always full of meaning.
A cave their only shelter!
Is it not like to day? At the sharpest time of winter, some people have only one cardboard as a mattress and another as a quilt. They hardly have time to put up a tent when already they have to leave their makeshift shelter and go elsewhere. This cave in its depth, allows us to see these families today, unable to pay their rent, their electricity bills.
And we can continue the parallel with Mary and Joseph.
They were forced to exile to Egypt, to save the life of Jesus. Today thousands of people are urgently forced to flee their country to escape death.
Finally, the Magi who will arrive a few days later
They have traveled a long way to find the King of the Jews to whom they would like to pay homage, and they will return home by “another way”.
This different route, symbolizes the desire to renounce their will to power, to find the true path that this birth offers to humanity.
By depositing their wealth at the feet of the Child, they have left everything, of which gold is the symbol. They abandoned their desperate quest for knowledge and greatness by giving incense, a symbol of simple and confident prayer. Finally they placed myrrh as a sign of waiting for a new life that will spring from the tomb on Easter morning.
Yes, the crib with its many little statuettes can be seen as a mirror of the world.
Humanity that runs and discovers joy in the smile of a child. A message of hope and Good News for today.
Truly, the crib is always meaningful.
Sr Huguette Régennass, Sceaux (France)
