HOMILY CHRISTMAS MORNING – YEAR C
Responding to Good News with Faith
(Isaiah 62:11-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:15-20)
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It is Christmas Day, and after the touching readings and joyful celebration of Christmas Eve last night, the readings today offer us an opportunity to reflect back and deepen our appreciation of this mystery of love, in the light of day, and through three unique lenses – Isaiah, John and the author of Hebrews.
The prophet Isaiah is gifted with the ability to peer into the future, and almost intuit what that future would bring. He speaks of good news, of peace, of salvation, of a new reign of God. He goes on to speak of watchmen joyfully announcing the return of the Lord to Zion. He sees a ruined city of Jerusalem not just restored, but redeemed, and finally, that the whole earth shall see the salvation of our God.
How did Isaiah intuit that Jesus, the prince of peace and savior of the world, would bring the good news about inaugurating a new reign of God? How did he know that people would joyfully experience the return of the shekinah or glory of God to Jerusalem – not to the temple it had left in the time of Ezekiel, but to the little band of believers huddled in the upper room at Pentecost? How did he know that this good news would include redemption, the forgiveness of all our sins? How did he know that this good news would spread to the ends of the earth is such a momentous way that all time is measured by the birth of Jesus – before Christ or after Christ? Indeed, Isaiah was a prophet like none other.
Then we are given the perspective of John, who is writing his gospel as an old man in exile on the island of Patmos, reflecting back on a lifetime of experiencing the impact of the Jesus event, and trying his best to put it into words for our benefit. John is the theologian of symbol, of mystery and mysticism, and takes us back to the beginning of time. The divinity of Jesus is what John first clearly proclaims, with his cryptic opening sentence: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
For John, Jesus is also the creator of the universe, of all that exists, of all that has life. That life is powerful, eternal and also lightens up the whole universe and all of humanity, overcoming all darkness that tries to stifle it. Amazingly, the very creator of the universe humbled himself to come among us as a tiny, powerless baby – so astonishing an event that his own people did not recognize him and rejected him – a reality that persists to this day.
To those who have the gift of faith, who believe in this great mystery, John proclaims that something deep, profound and beautiful happens – we are transformed into the children of God who can now have an intimate relationship with this awesome creator of the universe who has come to dwell among us as one of us. Through the power of his Spirit, we can see and experience the power of his glory, his forgiveness and his healing, transforming us into new creations as well.
Finally, the author of Hebrews builds on the prophets and strives to expand on this mystery of mysteries. Jesus, the Son of God, the exact reflection and imprint of God, who created the ages, who as the Word of God is the final revelation of God, has purified us through the power of forgiveness for all our sins. The one who is above all the angels, and who is with the Father, is also born among us as one of us, leading us to respond with faith and adoration.
There is a Dutch story about an old church where people on entering would stop and bow before a whitewashed wall. No one remembered why, it just felt right, and was always that way. One day renovations uncovered a centuries-old painting of Christ. No one knew it had been there, yet they had been bowing to it, not knowing why, but sensing a reason for reverence. Now they knew why they had been doing so.
A lesson for Christmas we can pick up from this story, especially for our wandering and often lost world, is that the people had been giving reverence to something whose meaning they could no longer see. The painting had been lost, yet they sensed something special behind the wall of whitewash. People may have lost sight of the real meaning of Christmas, yet still somehow, they sense something special about it in all the hoopla.
Ron Rolheiser, in commenting on this story, stresses there is no need to be cynical – any celebration is better than nothing. We celebrate and can be happy that others do too, even if they are not sure why anymore. Our task is to help peel off the layers of dust, and tell the story in a more meaningful way. We can respond to the bad by practising the better, and by celebrating in a better way. Let our joy, and our bow, be deeper than that of the secular world.
The Eucharist we celebrate this Christmas morning is an act of faith, a humble meal, a source of forgiveness and healing, a sharing in God’s love shown us by the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. So, let us believe in the Good News of Jesus, live in hope, and express our faith through love.
