Message: Merry Christmas!

The Feast of the Epiphany, the visit of the Three Wise Men, holds an important place in Kerala, India, my homeland, where many Eastern churches coexist. Before dawn, families light candles in front of the Nativity scene to "show the way" for the wise men still on their journey. In the past, this day brought a second wave of Christmas gifts. Today, Santa Claus reigns over the entire world of gifts and has almost eclipsed the Wise Men. Yet, they have lost none of their spiritual significance: they are a parable of the spiritual quest.

Christmas introduces us to the art of discerning God's subtle manifestations in the heart of everyday life. Everything speaks. Everything can become a sign, even our wounds. The most painful moments in life are not always those where everything ends, but rather those of the "in-between": the waiting room of a hospital, the desert between enslavement and promise, the silence of "not yet." It is precisely there that Christmas takes root in all its beauty: in the fragility of what is beginning to manifest itself. The mystery of the Incarnation!

Each christmas crib is a place of healing: God's humility disarms our pride and sets us on our way again. As with the Magi, Christmas opens a path back to peace for us, in a world wounded by so many wars, both outside and within ourselves.

May this holy season grant us the grace to recognize the beauty in small things: those gestures of fraternity, attentiveness, and kindness that others offer us each day. Let us be like the Magi: attentive to the signs, bold enough to venture into the unknown.

Let us imitate Francis of Assisi: looking beyond what is spectacular or dazzling, to discern the traces of God in the smallest, most discreet, almost imperceptible realities.

Brother Benny Vincent, OFMCap.

Provincial Minister,

Friday, December 19, 2025

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