Many years ago, I saw a play called Down Will Come Baby. It begins with a husband taking down the Christmas tree, with a model of the Christ child in the manger among the ornaments. The wife asks, “Can’t we keep Him?” The husband replies, “No. I’ll throw Him out with the tree. The garbage man will collect Him.”
The next day, after Christmas, models of the crib are scattered around the house, discarded with the holiday decorations. The wife is disturbed, but the husband insists, “Everybody loves a baby, but when He grows up, it’s different. His eyes look through us, His hands make us care, and His lips tell us what we are. We’d have to live like real people—and that’s more than we can bear.”
This reflects how some of us want to keep Jesus as the baby in the manger—someone we can admire, but not be transformed by. King Herod had the same impulse: he couldn’t bear the threat of a child who would grow into a powerful King. The Gospel tells us little about the three wise men, except that they followed a star to find the newborn King. In His presence, their search ends, and they worship in silence, offering gifts.
After the decorations are packed away, we must ask: what will happen to the baby Jesus? Will He be discarded with the holiday trappings, or will He grow from a Child in a manger to the Savior and Lord of our lives?
When Jesus grows up, He challenges us. The baby is easy to love—innocent and approachable. But the Man who calls us to live differently can be disturbing. He demands change. As the husband in the play says, “He looks through us.”
The question for us is the same one that was asked of the wise men: What are you looking for this year? For us, the answer should be a person—the person of Jesus. He must become as real to you as He was to the wise men. Not as an idea or moral system, but as someone you adore and follow.
Christ didn’t come just to teach or perform miracles; He came to make us like Him. You can’t adore the Christ child and then live for yourself. Christ must change your life: at work, at school, and in your relationships. Through you, others should see the love of a Savior who was born in a stable, suffered, died, and rose again—for them.
The question, What are you looking for? Does not come from me—it comes from Jesus. Your answer reveals a lot about your heart. It’s the same question He asked Peter: “Do you love Me?”
St. John tells us the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, connecting the beauty of the Christmas story with the divine. Jesus, the true King, was born as a child, and the angels, shepherds, and star all pointed to Him. The question now is: will you fall down and adore Him? Will you open your treasures and offer Him your gifts?
Thank you, Father.