Christmas Day 2021

 

Christmas Day 2021

 

(Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; St. John 1:1-18)

 

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, in the course of our Advent preparation Mother Church bade us pray: ‘Lord, as we walk amid passing things, teach us by them to love the things of heaven and hold fast to what endures.’

In accordance with that prayer, I would like to bring to your mind this Christmas morning a very popular character of great importance in our seasonal celebrations: Father Christmas.  Even though there will be little attention given in the media and public celebrations to the Person of the Child Whose coming is so blatantly exploited in this season, Father Christmas is, on the other hand, to be seen everywhere, feted and surrounded by wondering children, always being questioned about the gifts he is bringing … will his sack be big enough to hold, and his reindeer strong enough to carry, them all?   How the media love to plug Father Christmas and his gifts for the financial advantages such a presentation of Christmas rejoicing brings for their sponsors, and perhaps, in our present times, also for a more charitable purpose of bringing some traditional, easily-appreciated joy, to many suffering under lockdowns from loneliness and tedium!

Practicing Catholics and Christians rightly reject such a distortion of Christmas.  And yet, many of them -- while rejecting the commercial Father Christmas -- tend themselves to overlook the real Father-of-Christmas, that is, the heavenly Father of Jesus, and in so doing concoct another distortion of their own, smothering Christmas with  sentimentality, centred exclusively on the birth of the child and the joy of his mother.  You might have noticed that I have not emphasized ‘the child or his mother’, because those Catholics and Christians I have in mind relate to Jesus’ birth in much as they would to any other mother and baby scenario, and seem to have no doubt that their emotional extravaganza is a fitting, contemporary, expression of that spirit of devotion which drove the Three Kings across desert wastes; indeed, of that  spirit of holiness which caused the angels from heaven to burst forth into joyful chorus and filled the hearts and minds of Mary and Joseph with wonder and joy.

Now, whilst such an emotion might be considered acceptable piety for many who are preoccupied with seasonal cares and distractions, it is certainly not satisfactory for those committed disciples of Jesus who have a desire to find a deeper spiritual appreciation of the wonder and beauty of this joyful season.

Father Christmas … I repeat the name, the title, the sobriquet ... because I want to impress upon your Catholic mind and Christian sensitivity the vital, connection between Father and Christmas. 

What is the essential character of the Christian celebration of Christmas?

Those sentimental Catholics and Christians to whom I have just referred would say that the wonder of Christmas, its ‘pulling-power’ so to speak, is centred on the beauty and innocence of the Child, which disarms all who are aware of sin in themselves and in the world around.

However, if we know ourselves well enough, we must admit that many other pictures of tranquil beauty and unstained innocence -- be they pastoral scenes or even perhaps pictures of wide-eyed puppies or playful kittens -- can stir up in us fleeting emotions of a somewhat similar nature.  The essence of Christmas must therefore lie deeper, indeed it must be something other, than such openly emotional, short-lived, worldly, sentiments.

The evangelists Matthew and Luke tell us of those who originally came in a spirit of joy and wonder to see the new-born Child, the wise men and the shepherds:

 

The wise men set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the Child was.  When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.  On entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they knelt down and paid Him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

When the angels had left and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”  So, they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Child lying in the manger.  When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this Child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

However, the Wise Men and the shepherds, on leaving that scene of innocent and yet solemn beauty, seem to have returned to their former lives, for they are not to be encountered again in our Gospel story.  They admired, wondered at, the fact of Christ’s advent but were not able to appreciate its depth of meaning and purpose.  We have, therefore, to find a way that will lead us deeper into the beauty and peace of that manger scene, towards the eternal wisdom and divine truth hidden in the silent embrace of the as yet speechless Child and His adoring mother.

Let us turn to what St. Luke tells us about Mary at the Birth of the Lord:

     Mary treasured all these words (that is, all that had happened) and pondered them in     her  heart.

 

I suggest, and I have no doubt that you will agree, that Mary’s attitude of awe-inspired reverence and total loving-commitment penetrates most surely and deeply to the essential significance of the Christmas mystery, while it most truly and fully rejoices the heart of the Father in heaven.

Moreover, we find a similar attitude to the Incarnation of God’s Son in the Gospel of St. John, who, as you will remember, took Mary as his mother to his home in obedience to the dying words of Jesus.  Now John, when speaking of the Birth of the Messiah paints no emotionally moving picture, but simply says:

 

God (the Father) so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (3:16)

 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. (1:14)

 

On both occasions that he brings the Father into prominence; and from that basis goes on to develop his teaching:

 

In this is love … that (God, the Father) loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins … (yes, God the Father) sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.   (1 John 4:9-11)

 

Dear People of God, the wonder of Christmas is indeed found in the Child, but not if we see the Child merely as One of lovable beauty and disarming innocence. Looking exclusively and emotionally on the child in such a way, at the best, makes Christmas into an occasion when we can pour out our feelings and affections for Him and His mother.

Christmas is only to be appreciated aright if we recognize the Child as the Father’s gift; that is, when He, the Child, is seen as the absolutely unique One through Whom the Father is preparing to touch, change, and save, all of us; the One Who is already a sublimely beautiful expression, and Who, potentially, is the fullest possible manifestation, of the Father’s love for us.

With that understanding we will be ever on the alert for the Good News the Child brings, we will watch Him grow up, desiring to know from Him ever more of the Father’s love, and how we can learn to embrace and respond to that love in and with Him, the only-begotten and well-beloved Son. 

 

“What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was (is) with Him.

 

Indeed, we will thus appreciate what John the Baptist – the greatest of all the prophets -- could not himself be aware of: namely, that this Child is the ultimate expression of the Father’s astounding love for us; an appreciation that fills us   with awesome joy in anticipation of what this Child's growth to manhood and maturity will eventually reveal of the unfathomable depths of the Father’s divine GOODNESS.  All of which can, alone, prepare us to ultimately embrace and draw eternal fulfilment from, the Cross, the unimaginable destiny the Father has in store for His only-begotten and beloved Son, and  through Him, for us, His long searched-out, and truly adopted, children.

The greatest moments of the Christian life, dear People of God, are not times in which we do something for God, rather are they moments when we humbly receive, before subsequently beginning -- gratefully and patiently -- to appreciate, God’s marvellous gifts and inconceivable goodness.  Ultimately, no human being could ever have found God; we have only come to truly know and experience Him because He has graciously revealed Himself to us, and we, with sufficient spiritual peace of mind and humility of heart, have been able to sincerely welcome and whole-heartedly embrace Him.   Consequently, Christmas is a time, an occasion, to be lived in company with, and in imitation of, Mary, His and our, Mother.

God originally created us out of love; in Adam we sinned, becoming subject to Satan, sin and death, and thus allowing chaos and disruption to enter the beautiful garden that had been entrusted to our care: thereby we involved the whole of God’s ‘good’ creation in the consequences of our own fall and failing.  Now the great mystery of Christmas is that God -- having originally loved us enough to create us -- showed us, even after such a betrayal in the Garden, yet even greater love by sending His only-begotten and most-beloved Son to become One-like-us-with-us to redeem us.

Father Christmas … Heavenly Father of Christmas ... thank You for the Infant Jesus! Help me to follow every stage of His life and teaching that I might learn from Him how to know and love You, because Jesus said that that was the purpose of His coming: He had come to make Your name known!   Father, You give us Jesus, You offer Him anew to us this Christmas … give us, likewise, to Jesus, for He Himself again said that none can draw near to Him unless You, Father, send them to Him.  Father, give me to Jesus this Christmas, that in Jesus, by the Holy Spirit of Jesus, I might become, like Him, a true child of Yours!

(2021)

 

4th Sunday of Advent Year C 2021

 

Sermon: 4^th. Sunday of Advent (C)

(Micah 5:1-4; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-44)

 

 

 

The time is at hand: soon Christmas will be here.  In today's readings we are given some background to Israel's expectation of, and joy in, the promised Messiah, and through that we can catch a glimpse of the true Christian joy that should be ours as we look forward in hope towards Christmas.

The prophet Micah tells us that, before the coming of the Messiah, there would be a time of sorrow

            Marshal your troops … for a siege is laid against us.

The horrors for a city under siege in those days could indeed be catastrophic: supplies of food and water being cut off first of all; then stores laid by running out; finally, rain alone being insufficient to provide enough water for all those crowded into a city filled to overflowing with weary troops and terrified people from the surrounding country villages pouring in for shelter before the invading host:

            O city of troops, a siege is laid against us;

so terrible was such a siege that it could even result in the strong eating the weak, and mothers their infants!   

Eventually, Micah foretold, Zion herself would be taken and the nation robbed of all its dignity and respect:

            They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

Israel's state of subjection and dependency would last long, because the Messiah was to come out of Bethlehem not Jerusalem, the city of Israel's great king, David.  David had been taken from shepherding his father's flocks by Samuel in the name of God and anointed as king to shepherd God's chosen people.  So too, as you heard, the prophet foretold of the coming Messiah that he:

            shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord.

But he would not come out of Jerusalem, Zion, the city of David, because Israel's ruler will have been humiliated -- "struck on the cheek with a rod" -- for so long that survivors of the house of David will no longer be found anywhere in the capital city, only a remnant remaining in the abject surroundings of Bethlehem:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel.

Those long years after the terror of siege and conquest, those long, long, years of humiliation, were acknowledged to be the result of Israel's sin, and God's consequent hiding of his face from her had been foretold:

He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labour has given birth.

When, however, the expected Messiah came, He would indeed be a wonderful figure, like David:

He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide.

Indeed, He would be even greater than David, the prophet foretold:

For now, He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and this One shall be (our) peace.

David's kingdom had been quite small; he had brought some worldly glory to his country, indeed, but he had not brought peace, for war had never been far from Israel's borders in David's days.

Above all else, however, the Messiah would be no mere human being; He would be far more than even a great and successful hero, because He would be, the prophet proclaimed:

            One whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

In other words, Micah confirms what Isaiah also had foretold, the Messiah would be divine.  Then indeed, in His days, Israel's humiliation would come to an end and her glory be revealed to all mankind.

Surely, therefore, you can imagine something of the joy, expectation, pride, and hope which the Messiah's birth held out to pious Israelites; and it is there you can find some idea of the true nature of the Christian longing as we draw close to Christmas, the birth of Jesus Our Lord!

However, to have a closer, yet truer, idea of the nature of our Christian expectancy near the end of this Advent season, we have to bear in mind what our Christian evangelists and prophets tell us about the Messiah in addition to what the Old Testament prophets had foreseen and foretold, and therefore we now turn our attention to today's second reading from the letter to the Hebrews:

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure.” 

Jesus, our Saviour, was not coming to do everything the Jewish Messiah might have been expected to do, for most Jews would have envisaged the Messiah offering sacrifices in the Temple, and they certainly would have wanted and expected Him to lead their army to victory over their oppressors and enemies: ultimately, indeed, they longed for a return of the ‘glory days’ associated with King David.

Jesus, however, was not – as I said -- coming with the express purpose of radically improving Israel’s political situation of dependency and subjection; He was coming to renew Israel’s relationship with God: He was coming with that one purpose in mind, and in a body that would replace the traditional sacrifices and offerings.

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.  Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.

He was coming, then, with a love for His Father, Israel’s God, that was divine, but in a body that was truly and fully human, and therefore subject to the weakness of human nature:

Behold, I have come – in the body You have prepared for Me -- to do Your will, O God.

And that yearning, aspiration, for the fulfilment of God’s will, most certainly would not satisfy the popular hopes and aspirations of most Jews!  How could a suffering, sacrificial, Messiah give them that hoped-for military triumph over, and revenge on, the Romans, which would lead to political sovereignty and independence, together with fondly-imagined social prosperity? 

Popular desires and expectations have never determined God’s providential counsels and plans; and certainly, the prophets and those who were most pious among the sons and daughters of Israel, such as Simeon, Anna, Elizabeth, and above all, Mary, desired simply and solely that the sin of Israel -- her disobedience and hardness of heart before God -- should be redeemed.  It was that ever-growing corporate sinfulness which had brought on Israel all the suffering and shame she had had to endure for centuries, she had not lived worthily as God's Chosen People, she had been unfaithful to the covenant made with Yahweh in the desert; and therefore, the faithful remnant of Israel looked for the coming Messiah to redeem Israel from the disgrace and the poison of her own sinfulness, rather than to lead her armies into war against the secular power of Rome.

Let us just listen to some of the most sublime expressions and manifestations of their joy at the prospect of this holy Messiah, those which provide us with the truest and most authentic model for our Christian, Christmas, joy and hope:

When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

That was the joy of John the Baptist, joy that One had come to Israel who would indeed purge Israel of her sin, just as He had filled his own mother with the Holy Spirit; One whose way he, John, would prepare by preaching repentance of sin:

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (Luke 3:3)

Such too was the joy of Simeon who received the Infant in his arms from Mary:

Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word.   For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel. (Luke 2:29-32)

And Simeon, who knew the people he had long lived among, recognized that this glory that rejoiced his own heart would not prove to be a cause for popular joy in Jerusalem, indeed, worldly Israelites would reject it:

Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against.” (Luke 2:34)

This spiritual glory, this cleansing from sin, is what Mary celebrated when she proclaimed the holiness of God:

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.  For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.   For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. (Luke 1:46-49)

Therefore, dear People of God, you who have been chosen in Christ, let us all look forward with joyful anticipation to Christmas, but let us look forward to what God offers, not what human desires suggest.  In this holy season, our joy should -- first and foremost -- be simple and sincere; a joy which enables us to open our minds and hearts, to offer our very lives, to the One who comes to do His Father's will; a joy that compels us to ask Him to teach us His ways and bless us with the power of His Spirit so that we too -- as His disciples -- may seek and delight to do the Father's will in all things.

            Father, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.      

 

3rd Sunday of Advent Year C 2021

 

3rd. Sunday of Advent, Year (C) 2021 

(Zephaniah 3:14-18; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18)

 

Large crowds of people used to go to John the Baptist for his blessing by the river Jordan; they went because they thought he might be Israel’s expected Messiah; and even if he were not the Messiah, they were convinced that he – man of God that he most certainly was -- could show them the true way to God; indeed, that he could and would tell them what was God’s will for each of them.

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  (Luke 3:7)

In the countryside, whenever there was a brush fire, vipers could be seen scurrying as best they could to avoid the flames.  If you remember, St. Paul was bitten by such a serpent escaping from the fire lit by those who, along with Paul, had just escaped from cold ocean waters after being shipwrecked near Malta.

            Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

John meant that in the sense of, “Don’t think you can just come here and be baptised by me and then you will have nothing more to worry about.”

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’  For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.  The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 

Let us wonder at this situation, People of God, because we do not see the like today.   Scripture told us of crowds of people going to ask John the Baptist the way to God; people well aware that they themselves did not know that way, people who suspected that they had long been walking away from God and, indeed, often offending Him by their sins.  They had been brought to that admission by the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who, having brought them thus low in their own pride and self-esteem, had then been able to set them out on the right path by sending them to the prophet of God, John the Baptist, for guidance and help.

Today, on the other hand, in our very modern world and society, we are surrounded by a people very high in their own pride and self-esteem and extremely low in their esteem of God, if, indeed, they concede that there is a God at all.  And yet, although being apparently so sceptical of all things pertaining to religion, many of them are very superstitious and easily concerned or even frightened about what they think might be ghosts, destiny, unlucky, or cursed!  There are some, however, such as some film or TV stars, being very much aware of and concerned about their public image and not wanting to seem easily frightened, show themselves to be much more foolish by ‘messing around’ with powers far beyond them, indulging their dangerous curiosity by malpractices such as consulting Ouija boards for answers!!

And, even in our own midst, we still have some people calling themselves Catholics who rarely attend mass yet like to display their imagined piety by unmerited communion: people who, in their particular trials and difficulties might, of course, turn to their associates, neighbours, or current friends, seeking worldly help or sentimental comfort, but would never dream of asking a priest concerning the Church’s teaching.  Indeed, dear People of God, all of us are, in some measure, members of a religious community, the Catholic Church -- the most ancient and divinely endowed Christian body -- which apparently never publicly considers that sins (ours among them) may well have incurred the punishment of the covid pandemic and its subsequent developments, despite the fact that Scripture repeatedly tells of such a price being demanded of the People of God in times past. 

I wonder what words John the Baptist might have used to describe all such people or such attitudes?  They would, without doubt, have been very colourful, for the image of vipers wriggling in the dust for their very lives before the advancing brush fire is remarkable.

Anyhow, we can see clearly that John had no time for people who came just to be baptized by him, and then were not prepared to do anything more; John demanded that anyone seeking to profit from his baptism had themselves to produce acceptable fruit.

The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Now, can you imagine anything less being demanded today of those seeking God’s grace through Jesus’ sacraments? 

As Catholic Christians we are called to seek the Lord at all times indeed, but even more so now that Mother Church is subject to so much open scrutiny, mockery and hostility, let alone active persecution.  We have to seek His face by sincere endeavours to grow in His love and walk in His ways that we might also thereby be able to proclaim His great goodness to all around us, for God does, indeed, show us great mercy and respect:  those turning to John were driven, yes driven, by fear of what was approaching, whereas we, on the other hand, God wants to draw us to Himself by gratitude:

The Lord has taken away your punishment, He has turned back your enemy.  The Lord, the King of Israel, is in your midst; never again will you fear any harm.  The Lord your God is in your midst, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you. 

Oh, how great are the blessings we, who have been called to the Faith, have received!  We are in the Church, members of that Body of which Christ Jesus Himself is the Head and whose life is the Holy Spirit of love and truth.  That Body which St. Paul exhorts to:

            Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  The Lord is near!

Yes, dear People of God, the Risen Lord is in our midst!  He graciously comes to be with us whenever we gather together in His Name as His Church, and He comes in our midst that He might draw us to Himself, and with Himself, to His Father.  He comes offering us a share in His own heavenly life when He allows us to obediently approach Him in Holy Communion.  He condescends to thus give Himself to us that He might, by His Spirit, make us more and more like Himself, living members of His Body, His witnesses before the world; that we might hand down not just -- as many people seek today -- a purer atmosphere to subsequent generations, but rather, through the Gospel of glory-to-God-and-goodwill-to-all-mankind, the very breath of eternal life.

In this respect, dear People of God, recall the saints of Mother Church, do read something of their lives, and you will learn what wonders God has done and will do for those who turn whole-heartedly to Him in their needs, and even more to those who open wide their hearts in and for love of Him.  Think of Fatima, when the world’s newspapers told of the miracles of Mary, and photographed the sun dancing in the heavens!!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we should not, therefore, come to Church on Sunday in any measure depressed at our loneliness among men and women of today.  We have many dear friends in heaven, and have every reason to come ‘to enter the courts of the Lord’ with humble confidence and sure hope, presenting ourselves before Him with great gratitude as His servants and children wanting and willing to learn and to love, to obey and to delight in, His will for us today and for our world in its future needs. Each of us is called, encouraged and urged, to allow ourselves to be gradually renewed interiorly, by constantly seeking the face of the Lord, asking and longing, seeking and praying, to know His truth and recognize His beauty ever more surely, to respond to His will for us ever more whole-heartedly.  Since so much has already been given to us, we cannot merely offer that pseudo-fruit of the ‘never causing anybody any harm’ type; we are called to become Christ-like: children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, humble and gratefully committed instruments of the Holy Spirit.  As such, we will most perfectly exemplify those words we heard earlier from Saint Paul:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.