Christ is Born! Let Us Rejoice!

Christ is born! Let us rejoice!

Byzantine icons often depict the midwife Salome and another woman who helped the Virgin Mary during the nativity of Jesus Christ. The ancient text of The Protoevangelium of James (thought to be from about 145 AD) provide details. Because of her presence at the birth, Salome is therefore believed to have been the first person to bear witness to the birth of Jesus and to recognize him as the Christ. From The Protevangelium we read:

Midwife Salome and another woman depicted in the lower right corner of this icon.

And I [Joseph] saw a woman coming down from the hill-country, and she said to me: O man, whither are you going? And I said: I am seeking an Hebrew midwife. And she answered and said to me: Are you of Israel? And I said to her: Yes. And she said: And who is it that is bringing forth in the cave? And I said: A woman betrothed to me.

And the midwife went away with him. And they stood in the place of the cave, and behold a luminous cloud overshadowed the cave. And the midwife said: My soul has been magnified this day, because my eyes have seen strange things — because salvation has been brought forth to Israel. And immediately the cloud disappeared out of the cave, and a great light shone in the cave, so that the eyes could not bear it. And in a little that light gradually decreased, until the infant appeared, and went and took the breast from His mother Mary. And the midwife cried out, and said: This is a great day to me, because I have seen this strange sight. And the midwife went forth out of the cave, and Salome met her. And she said to her: Salome, Salome, I have a strange sight to relate to you: a virgin has brought forth — a thing which her nature admits not of.

Meister Eckhart tells us, ‘We are all called to be mothers of God for God is always needing to be born.’

When I reflect on the work for women’s ordination, women’s equality in our Church and the work for social justice in the world, I remember that our world is in labour. We are the midwives, the mothers, the people helping a new way to be born. We are the ‘undoers’ of knots in the work of redemption. The story of Christ’s birth reminds us that we are a community and that we are not alone. Our work is in service to justice. It is also work for conversion and ultimately it is work for love.

In our fragility, in our struggles and in our fierceness, as difficult as it can be, our calling is to do this work well and to do it with love.

Christ is at the centre of the story and it is Christ who brings us together. We are helping Christ to be born.

Wishing everyone a warm, blessed, merry Christmas from

Women’s Ordination Worldwide