December 2023: Lessons from My Childhood Christmas Play

亲爱的朋友们,

每年圣诞节前，我都在我的教区小学——圣海伦娜小学上学, 在Bellefonte, 就在阿克米尔学院的费城派克大道上，学生们将讲述耶稣诞生的传统圣诞故事. 我记得我是三王之一(可能是因为我很早就成熟了，在七年级的时候有了一个快速成长). 我穿着父亲的浴袍，他用在车库找到的一些可弯曲的金属做了一个皇冠，然后喷漆成金色. Another year I portrayed a shepherd, and my aunt sewed my costume out of bed sheets. 这是一个表情. 剧本年年不变，就像我的老师——圣约瑟夫修女会一样. None of us had lines to remember, since the entire play was narrated using the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew. 我们必须学习一些穿插在整个故事中的圣诞颂歌. 有几年，耶稣是用娃娃来描绘的，还有几年，我们真的有别人的小弟弟或小妹妹在婴儿床里! 

我仍然记得在学校的最后一天，看完戏，带着一盒硬糖走回家的快乐感觉，那是姐妹们送给我们所有人的圣诞礼物. I remember thinking, “How perfect the story of Christmas is!” - never changing, always peaceful and beautiful! 我很幸运能有机会接受天主教小学教育，并拥有这些美好的回忆.

然而, 我最近听到了一个关于圣诞节故事的反思，这个故事给我们上了一课，告诉我们如何做出艰难的决定, 相信上帝的工作, 知道困难. Imagine Mary’s strength and faith in God to say “Yes”.  根据当时的犹太律法，婚前怀孕的妇女应处以死刑。" . . . 他们要把女子带到她父亲的家门口，她同城的人要在那里用石头把她打死. 22:20)想想约瑟对神的顺服，娶了马利亚为妻，一生都保护她和耶稣. 约瑟夫和玛丽都不被认为有任何洞察力或超自然的力量来处理上帝以人类的形式来到地球的这个奇妙的事件. 

With their decisions to trust in God, were they rewarded with a comfortable life? 不，他们从拿撒勒被连根拔起，来到伯利恒，就在马利亚准备生产的时候. It was probably not a journey they would have wanted to take, but they made the trip because of the census being taken. The timing was anything but perfect. When they arrived at Bethlehem, they had nowhere to stay, 在他们的“无家可归”中，他们和动物们一起在马厩里找到了避难所. 当马利亚生下耶稣时，没有温暖的床，热水或其他舒适的东西给她带来安慰. After Jesus was born, they had to travel to Egypt to protect Jesus from King Herod. 我无法想象当我知道一个拥有国王般权力和资源的人想要伤害我襁褓中的孩子时，我会作何感想!

约瑟和马利亚的旅程始于马利亚对天使加百列的信息说“是”, 看到玛利亚跪在耶稣的十字架下，看着她唯一的儿子在她眼前死去, and concluded with Jesus rising from the dead, would be both physically and mentally challenging for any of us. 然而,, 约瑟和马利亚, 人类, 面对苦难和对未来的不确定，他们对上帝表现出极大的信心. 

现在, 在我看来, 圣诞故事的一切都与我童年时的田园诗般的戏剧正好相反. 在约瑟和马利亚的生活中，可能出错的事确实出错了，但这到底是神的计划吗? 正如马太福音中记载的那样，传统的圣诞节戏剧以东方三博士的来访结束. 在那之前, in the Gospel of Saint Luke, 他提供了耶稣在圣殿里的陈述，这是犹太律法规定的，所有的男孩都要被奉献给主.

在这个账户之后, the Gospels do not provide much detail about Jesus’ early life with 约瑟和马利亚, presumably learning carpentry from his foster father, 约瑟夫. 当约瑟和马利亚在圣殿里找到耶稣时，我们又回到了圣家的生活中, 谁以为他迷路了. 相反，耶稣在读圣经，并在圣殿里与长老和教师交谈. It is recorded in Luke 2:40-52: 

And as the child grew to maturity, he was filled with wisdom; and God's favor was with him. Every year his parents used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When the days of the feast were over and they set off home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was somewhere in the party, 只走了一天，他们就到亲戚和熟人中间去找他. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere. 碰巧的是, 三天后, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, 倾听他们, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, “我的孩子, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.' He replied, 'Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?' But they did not understand what he meant. He went down with them then and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and with people. 

根据美国.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “‘I must be in my Father’s house’ can also be translated, ‘I must be about my Father’s work.’ In either translation, Jesus refers to God as his Father. 他神圣的儿子身份, and his obedience to his heavenly Father’s will, take precedence over his ties to his family.”

福音书中每一段都有两行，证实了约瑟和马利亚的巨大信仰, "孩子的父亲和母亲对耶稣所说的话感到惊奇"当他40天大的时候，耶稣出现在圣殿里, 一次又一次, "但他们不明白他是什么意思"当他们在圣殿里找到耶稣的时候. Since Jesus’ conception and birth, 约瑟和马利亚 accepted God’s divine plan, puzzled and questioning it at times, 我可以想象, but always following through. I also find a second line in the Gospel compelling, “His mother stored up all these things in her heart.” As a mother who shares her flesh and blood with her child, did she have a sense “in her heart” about the specialness of Jesus, though perhaps her mind could not begin to comprehend who he was? 我们这些为人父母的人可能会说，我们对孩子产生了一种“内心的感觉”, not knowing everything that is going on in their minds, but developing a relationship - a bond - with them.

So, as I celebrate this Christmas, while my childhood memories of the Christmas story remain, as a parent and a grandparent now, 我有更深层次的, perhaps more mature 理解 of what just exactly happened when Jesus was born. It was the most rudimentary of births at a most primitive time, 然而，这是我们存在的顶峰——上帝对我们的爱和我们能够彼此表达的爱. That matters more than any earthly comforts.

在这个圣诞节, when our world is bedeviled with wars, 冲突, 仇恨, and polarization of thoughts and ideologies, let’s renew our belief in the Christmas story, knowing that our life journeys will have challenges, but also knowing love in action, 这是 妥协, 协作, 同理心, 理解, 宽恕, 验收, 热情好客, 慷慨, 分享, and so many other expressions of love, will bring us joy not only at Christmas, but every day of the year! 我将继续对皇冠博彩的每一位成员充满感激和希望, and wish everyone a Blessed and Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year!

迈克尔一个. 马里内利Ed.D. ‘76

校长