“No Room… or Just No Time?” 

I want to reflect on a character who almost never gets mentioned—someone who speaks no words in Scripture, yet whose silence echoes across centuries: the Innkeeper. 

He is remembered for one thing: “There was no room for them.” 

We often imagine the Innkeeper as harsh or unkind, but perhaps he was simply busy. Perhaps he said what many of us say: “I don’t know how to help, I don’t have space, I’m already full, or the most honest: “I don’t want to be bothered. I’m comfortable where I am.” 

The real problem may not have been a full inn—but a full life. 

How many times do we do the same? No room for prayer because the day is packed; No room for forgiveness because the wound runs deep; No room for change because comfort feels safer; No room for Christ because our hearts are cluttered with noise, fear, or distraction. 

And yet—just a hill away—there were shepherds. People with nothing to offer except their availability. No wealth. No status. No perfect preparation. But they had open space in their lives. And because they had room, they became the first to hear the angels sing. They became the first to see the face of God. 

The Innkeeper teaches us what happens when we are too busy, too closed, too self-protective. The Shepherds teach us what happens when we are simply open. 

So the question of Advent is gentle but piercing: In my inn… is there room for Christ to enter? Room for change? Room for the unexpected grace God wants to give? 

Christmas unfolded in a humble stable because someone once said, “No room.” 
But today, let my heart say “yes,” so that Christ may be born anew in my life, in my home, and in our whole community. 

In Christ,
Fr. Lijoy Jose, OFM Cap.
Pastor