The PHC / SASMAD team wishes you a Merry Christmas!

And shares with you the text below:

“Reflections of PHC / SASMAD on the contemplation
of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
and welcoming the sick and elderly.”

Conceptual design: Berenice Acosta Samano and Christiane Lemaire.
Text by: Berenice Acosta Samano.

Photo by Gareth Harper on Unsplash

We have probably all experienced Christmas today as a positive and peaceful experience and a calm environment, surrounded by our family and loved ones,
sharing special food, a holiday in a special place, receiving new clothes and gifts.
But if we think about how Jesus, Joseph and Mary spent their first Christmas,
their reality is far from what most of us experience at Christmas.

Photo by Phillip Goldsberry on Unsplash

To begin with, imagine walking across
the desert by foot, in sandals, on a
donkey… and to top it all off…
pregnant. With nowhere to stay.
Numerous examples
show that the holy
family spent the first Christmas in uncertainty, hardship, anxiety and various inconveniences.

Image Creator : MaxPixel’s contributors | Crédits : https://www.maxpixel.net/photo-2943916

Droits d’auteur : Copyright by MaxPixel

https://www.maxpixel.net/Joseph-The-Holy-Family-Donkey-Josef-Maria-2943916settings.

Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash.

Sometimes we look at the manger and

think of it as a warm, comforting place.
The reality of the holy family was that Joseph

could find nothing else to put baby Jesus to bed
than a hard wooden box where the animals
animals ate. Hard, old, cold.

Nevertheless, it was the best Joseph
could find and he knew how to make it suitable for
to receive Jesus.

Visit the Diocese Advent Season 2022 page

Perhaps the intention of Mary and

Joseph to welcome and receive the Child

with such great love, hope and faith

hope and faith miraculously transformed

what they prepared into something warm

and welcoming, as Jesus felt.

Certainly Jesus was made to feel

welcomed and loved, and perhaps that is

why now, when we look at a a nativity scene

or a manger which served as a crib, we

usually experience feelings of welcoming,

peace, love and warmth.

Photo Creator : MaxPixel’s contributors |

Crédits : https://www.maxpixel.net/photo-2943916

Droits d’auteur : Copyright by MaxPixel

Jesus is undoubtedly that

miracle of hope and love who manages to transform all

these shortages into warmth and abundance.

One of the real lessons we can draw from the first

Christmas is probably to learn from the

the Holy Family and to observe how we are able to

improve our hearts or our “inner

crib” to welcome others in the midst of

difficulties and needs

Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

Let’s reflect:

How can I prepare myself to welcome in my

heart and in my person the ideas and feelings

of of others this Christmas?

Am I able to quickly improvise

something, with Jesus’ help, and to prepare

prepare to be a warm and loving vessel for

others in their person and

and in their ideas this Christmas?

How can I better welcome others?

How can I improve my inner self or

my listening skills to offer a better

accompaniment to the people I visit?

What “desert” am I ready to cross in order to be

able to visit others with joy, peace and

and love?

Let us also think of the shepherds, who walked

joyfully to find the Son of God.

Can we, in SASMAD, walk joyfully like those

shepherds to find Jesus in the lonely or sick

person we visit?

Surely we can!

Paint : ” The Adoration of the Shepherds” by Matthias Stom, Public Domaine, via Wikimedia Commons.