A little infant, all smiles

I pushed the door open and discovered a little infant, all smiles, his arms stretched out wide. I immediately fell in love with that baby. I was touched by the way he opened his arms and by his really lovely smile. It was like he was waiting for someone to pick him up and hold him in their arms. Afterwards I understood that every Fraternity chapel has a copy of this image, and that it was the Infant Jesus. And now, looking at him with the eyes of an artisan, I know that that image was the 25 cm clay model of the infant Jesus, and that there are many other models.

When I began the postulancy I went to Cameroon to learn French. When I left Rwanda the little sisters there gave me a small version of that clay model as a going-away gift. For me that gift was a joy and a surprise. It measured 4.5 cm, smaller than the one in the chapel, and I was quite pleased because I could slip it into my pocket and take it with me everywhere. I went to Cameroon without knowing a single word of French, and the little sisters there didn’t know my language either. I used gestures to make myself understood. When I was tired and discouraged by French, I would look at the Infant Jesus and that gave me the courage to begin again, even if I didn’t understand anything. His smile and open arms gave me the desire to go on, because I found joy, peace, trust, and perseverance in Him. When I would look at the little statue I would say to myself that He was waiting with open arms for someone to come and pick Him up. He, the Lord God, chose to come among us as a child, and I contemplate the mystery of a God who would become a “little child” so that all people could find everything they need in HIM. All this means that I have great Love for the Infant Jesus. But He loves me even more.

Besides, He surprised me greatly, because I would never have imagined that one day I would work as a clay artisan, fashioning and “giving birth” to Him. In fact, in the noviciate I had tried to work with and decorate leather, but without success! I’m not an artist at all! When the Fraternity asked me to come make crib sets and clay statues of the infant Jesus, I spontaneously said yes. But afterwards when I thought about my experience with leather, I became afraid: I wondered how I could do it, I who am not an artist and had never worked with clay. The answer came to me quite naturally: it would be Him, the Infant Jesus, who would help me be an artisan. And now, six years later, I can say that this work is a gift the tiny Infant Jesus gave me through the Fraternity. Each time I press a statue in the mold or give it its finishing touches before firing it in the kiln, it helps me to contemplate the Incarnation more deeply—He, the Lord God, refused all honors in order to come to us, to become like us.

I like to use the image of the Infant Jesus as my profile photo, so that He can transmit something to each person who looks at Him. Yes, we can find everything in Him. A bit like Sebastian, who comes every year before Christmas to get small statues of the infant Jesus to give to people who seem sad, whom he meets on the streets or in the buses or metro.

It’s not easy to speak about the Infant Jesus in today’s world so characterized by violence, war, injustice, power…and yet, He is there, with His infinite love—He who chose to become a child so that no one could ever be afraid of Him! This Christmas I hope the Infant Jesus brings each of you that tiny glimmer of Hope that the sight of every newborn baby brings.

L.Sr. Alphonsine-Mukamanzi