The Nativity of the Lord Christmas
I had planned a quiet December 23rd. I wanted set some quiet time aside, prepare my homily and be ready for the Christmas masses. Things did not work out that way. Even before morning mass at 8:15, I had a call requesting the last sacrament for a long-time parishioner. I rushed to the nursing home right away after mass. The entire family had gathered to bid their father farewell. They were praying that dad would be with mom in heaven on Christmas day. Then there was a call to anoint a parishioner in ICU at Sycamore hospital. If there was one man who needed healing that day, it was this man. And then about four in the afternoon I was at the county jail for confession and a visit with an inmate who also is a parishioner. This was a non- contact visit. I had taken the Blessed Sacrament with me. As this person made his confession, I held the Blessed Sacrament up to him so he could pray. I gave him absolution and a blessing. For this prisoner, the idea that God would come to him in prison… that was his Christmas. I have to admit, for me too, because of these three situations, Christmas came early this year. Honestly speaking, there are no words that can appropriately describe my Christmas.
That is exactly how I also feel about Christmas readings. If we take the different readings at all the different Christmas masses, it seems to me that there is no one word to describe the depth of the Christmas event. If we could put love, hope, peace, redemption, reconciliation, thrill, excitement, exhilaration and pure joy into one word – that is Christmas. The reason for celebration of such magnitude is simple. The One Person who could redeem the entire world from the curse of evil had arrived. Heaven, earth, sky, animals, people, and all creation will never be the same again. The choirs of angels, the singing in the sky, the appearance of the star, the visit of the magi are scripture’s way of telling us that God is in our midst. Anybody – the dying, the sick, those in prison, or you and me can look at this God and find security, peace, hope, love and redemption.
I just said that there is no one word that can describe Christmas. I am going to use three points to make sense of the Christmas event.
1. Christmas shows us God’s capacity for Love. Christmas tells us that God’s capacity for love is beyond the wildest human imagination. God could have removed the curse of sin in numerous ways. But God chose the way of love. On Christmas day love came in the form of a little baby in a little manger. This was no ordinary baby. This was God’s own baby. This was the God-baby. This was Jesus, the Christ, Savior, Emmanuel, God with us, Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace, Word made flesh. Eternity itself lay in the manger as a little baby – nothing captures love more than that. The only other symbol that would define love in any greater way would be the cross. But, we are not here to talk about that tonight. Today, this baby will define the greatest love from the beginning of creation to the end of the world.
2. Christmas shows us God’s capacity for self-giving. We understand the meaning of giving more during this time of the year than any other. We go through immense trouble to match people with gifts and to match gifts with people. But there is a limit to our capacity to give. We try not to lose our security, our dignity or our self in the process. God, in becoming one of us, lost all of these. My visit to the prison was only a visit. No matter how noble my visit, I did not become a prisoner in order to save another prisoner. But that is not the Christmas story. What can we say about a God who gave up heaven to be with is on earth; what can we say about a God who gave up his divinity to become one like us; what can we say about a God who became what God was not so that we might become who God is? Christmas tells that God gave up all and become one of us so that one day we can become one of God’s.
3. Christmas shows us God’s capacity to save. God’s love and self-giving was for a purpose – to save. The name Jesus literally means “God saves.” No matter how much we love each other and no matter how much we give of our self to the people we love, there is one things we cannot do for them – save them. I went to pray for a dying parishioner yesterday. But I could save him. Only God saves. The last year we buried 47 people in this parish. But for God’s capacity to save, we would not ever see our loved ones again. God’s saving power will bring us all together again for eternity. Today, we can sit in this church and feel loved by God, filled with God presence, and saved by God.
I said earlier, that the birth of Jesus cannot be captured in one word. So what shall we do? I think there is a way out of this conundrum. The answer is YOU and ME. Your life and mine can be Christmas. You and I come to this altar today because on this altar lays a little piece of bread – the Word made flesh. You and I come to this altar because we are like the shepherds and the wise men. We know that here lays unfathomable love; here is total self-giving; here is the God who saves. As we receive this love and salvation, let us become Christmas for the world. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph