Is 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 (1:1-5,9-14)
In a certain kingdom, there was a very wealthy king. This king was known to be very generous, merciful and just. He never compromised anything for evil and always maintained his subjects were disciplined. He was comfortable but his only problem was that he had no heir to his throne. This caused him so much distress until he adopted a little boy who grew up as his son and became the heir to the throne.
He provided everything possible to make life comfortable for the heir in the palace. The king made him little less than himself and
gave him the freedom to do everything except to sit on the king’s throne until he was crowned king. He also ordered all his servants to obey the prince.
One day while the king was asleep, some foreign visitors came to see the king and a servant suggested to the prince to appear as the king and attend to the visitors since he was the heir to the throne. The prince clothed himself as the king and received the visitors who came to pay a courtesy call on the king. When the king learnt of this, he was enraged and sent the son away. He lost the hope of inheriting the kingdom and became sick. As he roamed on the streets hopelessly, he was taken hostage by some enemies where he suffered severely. Learning of his miserable condition, the king took pity on him and sent his chief security officer to bring to the son the good news of forgiveness, deliverance and restoration. Imagine the joy this son would have on seeing the messenger advance towards him with a message of hope.
This story is similar to the story of the fall of man who abused the freedom God gave him and lost paradise. This broken relationship between God and man made the salvation of man hopeless and helpless until God promised to save man and restore him to his former glory through the redemptive work of Christ. The Israelites were in this condition of hopelessness and helplessness when God announced the Good News of deliverance through the prophet Isaiah in the first reading (Isaiah 52:7-10). This deliverance and restoration was a foretaste of the redemption to be brought by Christ not just for the Israelites, but for the whole of humanity.
Today, at Christmas, we celebrate the beginning of this redemptive work of Christ. We recall Christ’s birth as a revelation of God’s love for us, as an assurance of hope, as a promise of deliverance from captivity and sin and as a sign of reconciliation between God and man, man and man and man and nature. Today we celebrate the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:10-14, for the virgin has indeed given birth to Emmanuel, ‘God is with us’. He has come to cast light unto those who sit in thick darkness. God has come to us as man so that feeling our plight, he’d better sooth our pains, heal our wounds and mend our brokenness. Today God has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:10). Today, we are privileged to have God communicate with us through his Son who bears his nature and reflects his glory hence the appointed heir of all things (Heb.1:2ff). We celebrate him who has come so that we may have the fullness of life (John 10:10). He came to plant joy where sorrow thrives, to console the wearied; to bless the unfortunate, to heal those who are spiritually and physically sick and restore light and justice to this dark and coarsened world.
For this reason, the second reading (Hebrews 1:1-6) reminds us of the great role Christ played by purifying us of our sins, reconciling us with the Father and sitting at the Father’s right hand to intercede for us. There was no better person to play this role than Christ, the one that has existed since the beginning. The gospel reading (John 1:1-18) calls him the Word through whom all things were made. This Word had to become flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary so as to save us.
Therefore beloved friends, as we celebrate this great feast, we are invited to rejoice as the son who saw the bringer of the good news of his deliverance and restoration for Christ is the Good News we have been waiting for and He is the light that will dispel the darkness in our hearts. The presence of Christ should fill our thoughts this season and ever so that we live out the antecedents of the Christmas season. This is a season of hope, reconciliation, forgiveness, restoration, joy and peace. We must let people experience Christ in us through the peace we shall build among our brethren.
If we are not careful we may miss out on the real meaning of Christmas
just as many have done. It seems, it has always been that way as the first Christmas reminds us of those who missed Christmas. The Innkeeper, for example, was so busy with a full hotel, with so many customer needs that he had no time or place in his inn for Jesus at Christmas. The Religious leaders around King Herod missed out on the real meaning of Christmas when they focused on staying close to worldly power that they didn’t take God’s Word seriously when the wise men came inquiring about the birth of a kingly Messiah. They told Herod that God’s Word said Bethlehem, yet, they were so and they missed Jesus at Christmas. They did not bother to think or ask whether he has been born so that they too can go and worship him-like King Herod made at least a false claim. It did not make the slightest difference to them. They were so engrossed in their Temple ritual and their legal discussions that they completely disregarded Jesus Christ. He meant nothing to them. There are still those who are so interested in their own affairs that Christmas means nothing to them. Christmas will come and pass and they will not notice.
Herod himself tried to eliminate Christmas before it got off the ground – to eradicate Jesus from Christmas – and people are still seeking to use political power to do that today. Will you miss Christmas, as well? If you find Jesus in all the commotion, you will not ever miss Christmas again.
Therefore beloved friends, as we celebrate this great feast, we are invited to rejoice as the son who saw the bringer of the good news of his deliverance and restoration for Christ is the Good News we have been waiting for and He is the light that will dispel the darkness in our hearts. The presence of Christ should fill our thoughts this season and ever so that we live out the antecedents of the Christmas season. This is a season of hope, reconciliation, forgiveness, restoration, joy and peace. We must let people experience Christ in us through the peace we shall build among our brethren. When Jesus Christ was born, the angels, the shepherds and the wise men adored and worshipped him. They welcomed the savior into the world and into their hearts with joy by singing, worshipping and presentation of gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In Luke 2:8-20, an angel of God broke the news of the birth of the Savior to the Shepherds, and suddenly, the angel joined his heavenly counterparts praising God in a song saying. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of Good will”. When the angel left, the shepherds went straight to Bethlehem to pay their homage. The wise men also travelled all the way from the East at the direction of the star to Bethlehem to adore and worship Jesus and presented gifts to him. We are already singing Carols of joy because of Christmas as the angels did. There are many who will travel far and near as the shepherds and wise men to join their families to celebrate Christmas. There are many who will offer gifts of time and material resources to Jesus Christ in the needy because it is Christmas.
As we gather for this Mass, we should count our blessings that we enjoy the freedom to celebrate today in relative safety. But we should not forget our Christian brothers and sisters not only in other parts of our country but also of the world that are not so fortunate and for whom Christmas is not so joyful. As we do so we are not forgetting the many hardships rocking us and the many perilous and precarious situations we have found ourselves in today. To those who may not have any ‘rice’ to eat today, I say Christmas is more than rice; to the kids who have no new clothes to wear, I say Christ is the reason for this celebration. He loves you and comes to you in your hunger and nakedness. To those held captive by sin and evil I say; the time has fully come and God has sent his Son to redeem us and adopt us as sons (Gal. 4:4-5). To the lost, those overcome by despair and pessimism I say; God has visited us his people to redeem us as Zachariah said in Luke 1:67ff. He has come to dwell with us so that from his fullness, we may receive grace upon grace (John 1:16). He is here to heal broken humanity and restore same to God (1Cor. 5:18, Col. 1:20).
For those who will celebrate I say as we eat and make merry during the period, let us acknowledge the fact that nearly one billion people all over the world will go to bed this Christmas without food, the reason why we should eat in solidarity with the hungry. As we wear our colourful and expensive clothes and other accessories let us remember that some people somewhere could make a big celebration out of our old clothes, shoes and other things. As we enjoy our beautifully decorated homes let us remember that many people are out there in squalors exposed to cold and heat as the Christmas celebration heightens. As we take our friends and children out to parks and other exotic places, let us remember that there are many children in orphanages and homes for the poor who would sit in there as the Christmas day comes and goes. As we power up ourselves for the celebration of Christmas in full health, let us remember that there are so many people in various hospitals lying down there on their sick beds as the Christmas day unfolds and recedes. As we move around visiting families and friends let us remember that there are many in prisons and hospitals to whom this Christmas may be pains and tears. Remember also that there are so many internally displaced peoples’ camps hemorrhaging with deprivation and thus in need.
Christmas light comes in the darkness of the night to set our hearts on fire with Christ’s love. That should enflame us to greater depths of prayer and devotion, and energize us to greater heights of putting Christian charity into action. Our Christmas liturgies are not nostalgic recollections of the past or mere memorials of historical events, but the birth of the Christ-child and the incarnation of God-made-man marks the dawn of the future for all humanity. That is the true Christmas gift.
It is up to us whether we will open that gift and use it, or put it on a shelf never to be touched again. Behold Him the Light of the world asking you to allow Him to illumine your hearts and dispel the darkness therein. Have you given him a chance? What is your response to God’s love for you, have you transferred this joy to your neighbour? Let us celebrate the Christmas simply so that others may simply enjoy the Christmas. Pope Francis in a homily for the general assembly of Caritas Internationalis said, “The planet has enough food for all, but it seems that there is a lack of willingness to share it with everyone”. When famine hit Milan in 1576, when St. Charles Borromeo was the Archbishop of Milan, he limited his food to one meal a day, sold his valuable furniture and three-armed galleys and even went into debt when his own funds and those he had solicited from others were exhausted. Thus he was able to provide food for over 3000 poor people every day. Let us cut down on our expenditure and stop the wastage culture so that we can provide for the poor. We must mark time on alcohol intake. Someone aptly captures our attitude towards alcohol intake as follows: “Nigerians love alcohol so much. If something good happens, they drink to celebrate, if something bad happens, they drink to forget it and drown their sorrows. If nothing happens, they drink to make things happen”. We need to do something about this problem my fellow people, but we don’t have to meet for a drink and discuss this.
Happy Christmas.
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