“The salaries of the majority are not enough to nourish themselves adequately, without thinking about other needs that human beings have to live with dignity. Prisoners continue to be missed at home and in the Christian community“, reads the text.
The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba constitutes an entity of the Catholic Church that brings together all the dioceses and archdioceses present on the island. Its president is the Hon. Mons. Emilio Aranguren Echeverría, Bishop of Holguín; and the vice president is the Hon. Mons. Arturo González Amador, Bishop of Santa Clara.
Likewise, the Vida Cristiana page shared a sunday reflection written by the director of Vida Cristiana, Edward Garcia Tamayo, SJ.
Christmas message
Dear brothers and sisters:
“The people who walked in darkness saw a great light; “They lived in a land of shadows, and a light shone on them.” Isaiah 9,1
The approaching Christmas and it seems to us that the text of the prophet Isaiah reflects well the situation and desire of so many peoples of the earth. Indeed, old and new wars with their consequences of destruction and death, polarizations and conflicts that prevent dialogue, emigrants fleeing poverty and bombs, natural events resulting from climate change, economic and social injustice, the lack of freedom… they present us with a walk in darkness for so many, perhaps too many.
The Cuban people also frequently feel that they are traveling in the middle of the night.. We are ending a very difficult year, because the situation regarding food, medicine and services in general is dramatic. The growing emigration of children, young people, entire families, workers and professionals adds to the suffering due to material deprivation, the pain of separation, and leaves many older adults lonely and helpless. The salaries of the majority are not enough to adequately nourish themselves, without thinking about other needs that human beings have to live with dignity.
The prisoners continue to be missed at home and in the Christian community. In the hearts and faces of so many of our brothers there is confusion, sadness and hopelessness. The economy has not blossomed as expected, and the possibility of enriching ourselves with legitimate opinions and plural thoughts is not sufficiently recognized and valued.
“You increased joy, you increased joy; They rejoice in your presence.” Isaiah 9,2
The prophet Isaiah contemplates that, in that sad town, God will make joy grow. It is also our wish and our plea. May God grant joy, peace, tranquility and hope to his people. Without these feelings in the heart, the human being loses enthusiasm for life, the ability to undertake initiatives and mobilize to carry them out. We have to create together, with responsibility and commitment, real possibilities for the Cuban people who are happy, creative, and enterprising to develop all their potential. And we can find in the Homeland the scope and freedom to develop personal, family and community life projects.
“For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us: he carries the principality on his shoulders, and his name is: Wonderful Counselor, Warrior God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9,5
The joy that Isaiah glimpses has to do with the birth of a child. That prophecy is fulfilled at Christmas. God sends his eternal Son into the world, and in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the immortal God becomes a man, one like us, someone who shares now and forever our life, our limitations, our sufferings and fatigues. Jesus Christ is that Child to whom the prophet was referring. And at Christmas we remember and celebrate how much God loves us, how much man is important to a God who has become man. We are never alone! God walks with us!
We invite you to celebrate Christmas with family and in the Christian community. Despite the limitations, we must live it from the depth to which the Lord calls us. May it be a good time to share at home, to visit the sick and those who are alone, to pray more, to read and meditate on the Bible.
May the celebrations in the Churches, contemplating the Nativity and the Christmas tree, help us to be better, to seek God and open our hearts to Him. That each child can receive a present on Three Kings Day. May we give each other smiles, company, time to listen to each other and reconcile. And that by welcoming Jesus Christ into our lives, we resume or renew the path of faith. Because only by living in coherence with faith will we receive the salvation and eternal life that the Child God offers us.
Merry christmas! God bless our families and all Cubans. God bless Cuba.
The Catholic Bishops of Cuba.
Havana, December 10, 2023.
Sunday reflection (published in Christian Life)
From the Director’s Board:
Second Sunday of Advent, cycle B
From the provisional to the definitive (Mc. 1, 1-8)
The Gospel of Mark begins with today’s passage: “The good news of Jesus, the anointed, Son of God, begins.” Thus, without mentioning the birth or youth of Jesus, placing us before the adult Jesus about to carry out his project, the Good News announced and lived.
Next, Mark presents a singular figure, a misplaced prophet, in an unexpected setting: John the Baptist, son of a priest, who preaches and baptizes far from the temple, in the desert. He announces a visitor, but without giving signs of the relevance of the one he announces, the Lord who visits his people. Paths must be prepared for him along a route that passes through the heart of those who feel the call. God asks to change the heart, confess sins and be baptized with water. Inner work: review life and amend it.
Juan talks about the new thing that arrives. But it is not the prize of a lottery nor the notification to a poor person of the inheritance left by a rich relative. It is a new time, which will be good for everyone, and not just for a lucky few. The novelty of the gift that is approaching, everyone’s business, requires the effort of each one to become worthy of the gift, although it always surpasses in category the one who receives it.
Finally, Juan reveals himself. He is a witness, a sign that points to the Messiah, a mission lived from smallness, according to what he believes he is before the one who comes behind, who can do everything: −I don’t even give to serve him humbly. What I do is pure provisionality; what He will do for you is final. Do not confuse the messenger with the messenger. Seek and stay with the rock, not the sand. He will put them in the hands of the one who will take them further, baptizing them in the Holy Spirit. John presents what will be the basis of the new Israel, a people of brothers and sisters inhabited by the Word of Jesus and guided day by day by the Holy Spirit.
And so we want to enter the new year that is already close. With a heart full of hope that it can – even when it shows a bad face – be a year of good for all and accompanied by the one who can comfort us and guide us in the midst of the crucifying reality, Cuban daily life of the first quarter of the 21st century.
