Baby Jesus in chains: a Canadian sign of our times

As part of our Christmas celebration, my wife and I went to visit one of our favourite nativity scenes put up each year in the Toronto. It's a life size creche displayed outside the church of St. Francis of Assisi Parish which is located on Mansfield Avenue. How appropriate in that it was Saint Francis of Assisi who created the first nativity scene in 1223. He actually used real people, "a living creche", in an effort to bring people closer to Christ. At a time of the year when we tend to concentrate on shopping and coloured light decorations, it's wonderful to spend some time in front of the creche and pray. We wanted to thank God for the many blessings during the past year and to ask for a New Year filled with peace and health for everyone.

During our visit, just as two men came around and asked if we liked the creche, I noticed that Baby Jesus was chained to the ground. We said yes of course we liked it very much, and we quickly went on to add that we had been coming down for years, especially to bring our children when they were young. It turned out that these two men were part of the group that volunteers each year to erect the creche. We expressed our appreciation and encouraged them to continue with this tradition because it reminds us all of the true reason for Christmas. Then we asked why Jesus was chained down. We were told that the little Baby had been stolen a few times and so they thought this was a way to prevent it from happening again.

I decided to take a few photos of the creche and two of them are included with this blog entry. As we drove home, I began to think of how sadly telling it was to see Baby Jesus strapped down by a chain. I know that we are talking about a statue of a baby, but perhaps the chain was a way to reveal the truth: today Jesus continues to be bound by human sin. Baby Jesus in chains: isn't this a sign of our times in Canada? It's our nation's evil such as abortion, the push for euthanasia, the constant efforts to remove religion from schools, from the public square and whenever the Ten Commandments are disobeyed that keep Baby Jesus in shackles. Our refusal to openly accept Baby Jesus as a nation is a rejection to free Him, to embrace Him and the grace He brings to everyone from the Father: the gift of life and love. We hope and pray that Canada will one day soon remove the chains around Baby Jesus.