The Universal Church and humanity as a whole celebrate Wednesday, December 25, 2019 as the Feast of Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “A child is born for us, a son given to us; dominion is laid on his shoulders, and he shall be called Wonderful Counselor. Amen.”
On this day, God has acted on his promise of old and given us a Saviour. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah sings a hymn of praise to God who has brought salvation to the city of Jerusalem. The messenger is seen running along the mountain ridges to the Holy City with the news of the return of the exiles. The watchman takes it up and proclaims it to the ruined Zion. In the Second Reading, the sacred writer of the Letter to the Hebrews recalls how throughout the Old Testament, God revealed his plan of redemption to the forerunners and ancestors of the Christian faith. But now, God has revealed and achieved all he promised through his Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Gospel message is the Prologue of Saint John, the traditional Gospel of Christmas Day. In it, Saint John tells us that the Word shares the Father’s divine being and his creative activity. Through him comes the communication and revelation of true and eternal life.
First Reading: Isaiah 52:7-10.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!" Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the Lord restoring Zion. Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Over the Advent period, many of the first readings we heard were from the prophecy of Isaiah. It is perhaps worth recalling that Isaiah, often considered the greatest of the prophets, was born in about 765 BC of a Jerusalem aristocratic family. He received his prophetic vocation in 740 BC and his long ministry spanned a period of over forty years.
The Book of Isaiah covers three distinct periods of Israel’s history. The first part, chapters 1-39, was written by the prophet himself; the second and third parts were written by other prophets when the people of Israel were in exile in Babylon and after their return from exile.
The passage for our meditation this Christmas day is the climax to a long poem of Second Isaiah. The prophet sings a hymn of praise to God, and also acclaims the city of Jerusalem which now receives the good news of God’s salvation. Salvation is approaching; it has reached the gates of Zion. A messenger is seen running along the mountain ridges, proclaiming that the Lord is returning to his holy city, like a victorious king coming back with his men, having redeemed them from their captors.
This victory parade includes songs of joy extolling the salvation brought about by the Lord, and also a pressing call for purification, to ensure that those who welcome the Lord are worthy to form part of his holy company. These verses form the famous poem of the “messenger of peace” who “brings good tidings”. The messenger’s feet are praised – a symbol of his speed as he crosses the mountain ridges with the important news of not only the return of the exiles but also of God’s message of salvation to the Holy City of Jerusalem.
His message involves peace, meaning safety in Israel after the hardships of life in exile. The core of this message is the enthronement of God: “Behold your God!” God has now taken control of Zion. God’s kingdom has now come to his people. This message will be more fully developed in the New Testament when Christ will preach a gospel centered on the kingdom of God.
What do I take out of this message on this day of Christ’s birth? The arrival of the messenger of peace to the city of Jerusalem raises shouts of joy that resound across the city. So also should the coming of the Messiah, Emmanuel – God with us – bring joy to our hearts and souls. We should be like the messenger of peace as we take the news of Christ’s birth first of all into our families, especially to those of our brothers and sisters – and there are many of them – who have either fallen on the wayside in their faith, or who are still to hear the exhilarating good news of Christ’s birth. Some have heard the news but Satan has picked it out of their souls, leaving them deserts of despair. We pray that the Holy Spirit may make us messengers of true peace at home, in our parish community and in our work places. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, Immanuel with us, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Second Reading: Hebrews 1: 1-6.
Brothers and sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word. When he had accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say: You are my son; this day I have begotten you? Or again: I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me? And again, when he leads the firstborn into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
The Letter to the Hebrews is one of the most imposing and important books in the New Testament. It was written principally to show the superiority of Christianity over the Old Covenant. It focuses on the idea that Christ's priesthood and sacrifice are superior to those of the priests of old. The sacred writer uses this teaching as the basis for encouraging his readers to persevere in the faith despite the difficulties they may face in their Christian life.
The passage selected for our meditation is the prologue or the introduction to this letter. The entire letter develops the main message in this prologue, that is, that Christ is the sublime, natural and eternal Son of God, the universal Mediator and eternal High Priest. It speaks of Christ whose mission is to save mankind, a mission appropriate to the Word who created all things.
By speaking to us through his Son, God reveals to us his saving will from the moment of the Incarnation. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Christ Jesus, has come into the world to redeem us by dying on the cross to open us the way to heaven. He thus completes and perfects God’s merciful revelation.
What is this passage telling us? This letter is very much an epistle of fulfillment. Its sacred writer shows us that God's final word is preached to those of us who are in danger of falling away from our faith. Christ, who is born today, is the co-creator of the universe with his Father. Let us welcome him into our hearts, as he lies in the stable, for he has come that we may have life and have it in abundance. We call on the Holy Spirit to fortify our faith and give us the courage to proclaim his word in season and out of season, whether we are listened to or not. Amen.
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia! A holy day has dawned upon us. Come you, nations, and adore the Lord. For today a light has come upon the earth. Alleluia!”
Gospel: John 1: 1-18.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'" From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him.
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Comment
I borrow a good part of the reflection on this day’s Gospel from Father Antony Kolencherry’s beautiful book Living the Word. He focuses attention on Christmas as a community and family feast. One of the most remarkable features of Christmas, he tells me, is its family character. It brings us together, friends and relatives and indeed the whole community of the faithful. Together, we experience the love and warmth of our near and dear ones. This helps to break the monotony and feeling of loneliness. It brings a spirit of reconciliation where relationships had been hurt or bruised over the year. It enables the community to dwell in peace and happiness and harmony as members greet each other, share gifts and good wishes as a sign of community belonging.
The reason for the joy of Christmas is explained in this verse from Saint John’s Gospel passage of this day. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1: 14). Yes, Christ has taken human nature to make us partners worthy to be called “the children of God”.
Saint John has summed up in these words the whole content of God’s mission of salvation for us all. God the Father loved us so much that he has sent his only begotten Son to be born on this day for our salvation. Jesus is the image of the unseen God (Col. 1:15). God dwells among men. He is everywhere, through him everything is made, in him is life (Heb 2:14).
What message should Christmas bring to us? First and foremost, a Christian community is only possible where people are open and where they lead a just and righteous life. It is possible only where God is at work, where people share and help one another to become truly mature Christians.
Christmas should therefore be a period of reconciliation in our Christian community and in our families. Is there acceptance between husband and wife, parents and children, members of the same Christian community? Do we keep aside back-biting and mingle with one another as true children of the same God, accepting even those who openly hate us, or are indifferent to us? God accepts them, so should we too.
Christmas is the festival of love, involving families and whole communities. This is the event we celebrate today. God has shown us how to love one another, accept even those who do not care about us, and pray for those who hate us. Jesus himself has said that what we do to the least of his brothers, we do unto him. That is why we should open the door of our hearts and those of our homes to the poor and the marginalized, the Lazarus, at our door.
Christmas reminds us to be open to all as God is open to us. It exhorts us to go out of ourselves to the community, to the needy, to the poor and the hungry because God identifies himself with them. As Pope Francis urges us, let us go out to the peripheries of our lives where the poor live and share with them what we have. If we do not do that, then we will be like the people of Bethlehem who did not open their doors to Joseph and Mary. Our homes however beautiful they may be, our churches however grandiose and spectacular, our celebrations however solemn, will be empty without Christ, the incarnation of love. Jesus is already here, and he is knocking at the door to our hearts, minds and souls. Do we hear him? Do we let him in?
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