St. Ignatius encouraged people to pray using their imagination. Quite simply, you imagine yourself in some scriptural scene, such as the birth of Christ in the stable in Bethlehem. You see the stable, notice how small it is, what facilities there are there. Then see the persons, our Lady, St. Joseph and the Child Jesus after his birth. Be present and make yourself useful in any way you can. Quietly take in what is really happening.
Maybe I was like a lot of men, inclined to hold back from such involvement. Then I attended a baptism and I caught on to what Ignatius was getting at. Actually it was after the baptism in the church, when family and friends had retired to the family home. It was a happy group, buoyed up by the arrival in our midst of this peacefully sleeping new little girl. Well, there was one exception. This was a woman who was isolated in a sense, as she seemed outside the happy group. Maybe it was difficult for her, as she had spent most of her adult life caring for an aged mother. It was too late to think of marriage, and she alone of her family was single and childless. Over time, this woman had become isolated, not answering the door to callers, then complaining of being neglected. She might easily become bitter if she hadn’t already.
Then, the surprise happened. The mother of the baby had been holding the newly baptized infant in her arms, but now she stood up to make tea for the guests and just walked over to this lonely woman and placed the baby in her arms. I think we were all surprised and maybe even anxious. I think everyone in the room was looking at her holding the baby, and thus they saw the transformation. Her face softened. She smiled and spoke lovingly to the child nestling in her arms. This moment just transformed her. There was a great happiness in the room, and family and friends felt that now they might be able to reach her again.
What St Ignatius was thinking of was letting each of us hold the baby, and allow Him to transform each of us, as the baby girl transformed the lonely guest at the baptism. As he did in the Holy Land, Christ touched, healed, saw the desires and fulfilled the hopes and longings of so many people. Really you have not lived Christmas until you too have held the baby. He came to give himself to you. Does he not give himself into your hands in Communion?