SUNDAY REFLECTIONS Christmas Midnight Mass (25 December 2011) Isaiah
9:1-6 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-14
Christmas is a celebration of joy, hope, peace and light. Originally, the Romans
celebrated a feast on this day, called the festival of the unconquered Sun. The readings
resonate with the theme of light and the baby in the manger is the Light of the World.
Light surrounds the shepherds as the angels sing their praises of God: "Glory to God
in the highest and, on earth, peace to all who are favored by God." It is a feast
of joy as we celebrate the greatest moment in history and announce that the savior
is born, good news is given and newness is proclaimed. The whole atmosphere is also
suffused with joy, the joy of the angels and of the shepherds as they hasten to Bethlehem
to find the new-born child. Joy is a theme which goes right through Luke's gospel.
It is one of the characteristics of the true Christian. On this day we greet each
other, exchange cards, gifts and sweets. We share with each other this happy moment
that even enemies speak to one another and those who are fighting the war will call
it a day of truce. They cannot fight on a Christmas day for sure. They will continue
the next day. Christmas is a joy of love when God showed his love for us by sending
his own beloved son who will continue to live with us forever. This is the ultimate
expression of God’s love as he gives his own son to us. It is the day when the earth
is transformed as God is close to us. Hope is given to the world that exists in a
hopeless situation and is looking for liberation. The saviour has entered the world;
the creator has become a creature, to give the world a new dignity. God has emptied
himself to fill us with the newness of life. It is a day of peace to the world that
is struggling with conflicts and disturbance. This message of peace was proclaimed
by the angels at birth of Jesus as they announce the good news to the shepherds. Jesus
the God of peace will give his peace to us and this peace will remain forever. The
birth of Jesus has transformed the whole world. Christmas is God’s special and
personal gift to humankind. On this day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, born in utter
poverty and destitution in the eyes of the world but in obedience to God to establish
his kingdom on earth. Today the Christmas message is proclaimed to the entire world
and the church recaptures it in three stages. First there is the anxious expectancy
expressed by Prophet Isaiah that those who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
The king will come and bring peace and justice to the world. The people have been
given new hope and joy. Second is the actual coming of Jesus in time, expressed in
the simplest narratives of a journey, the helplessness of Mary and Joseph, the birth
of a child, and the angels singing and the lowly shepherds being chosen as the first
recipients of the good news. Third is the theological reflection that the child expected
has come and in him the Grace of God is revealed and the salvation has been made possible
for all. It comes to us through the saving work of Christ. Yet we wait in hope that
the Lord will come again. God chooses to become part of the humanity because he loves
us and he wants to share himself with us. He does not want merely to exist alongside
us but wants to be a part of everything that we are. On this day God became one of
us, to love each one of us intimately, passionately and without any limit. This is
the meaning of Christmas for us where God becomes one with humankind. The first
reading from Prophet Isaiah speaks of the great light that will scatter all darkness.
He reminds the people of the many blessings the promised Messiah brought to humanity.
A child born to the royal house will usher in an age of peace. Weapons of war will
be smashed to pieces and military garments will be thrown into the fire. Prophet Isaiah
was aware about the vulnerability and oppression of the kingdom due to the misguided
policies of former kings. The prophet’s words paint an image of darkness, gloom, heavy
burdens trampling boots and cloaks soaked with blood. But God has a plan for restoration.
The time has come for people to walk with the light of faith. The reading tells us
that the faithless leadership of Judah’s kings left the people vulnerable to the enemies.
The prophet is confident that God will not leave them alone. The Light is on the way
and the people will rejoice and their land will yield a rich harvest. The country
will be free from the ravages of war. The light of faith will have its origin from
the royal line of David. Here Isaiah sees the birth of a royal child who will lead
the way for the people. This child will sit on David’s throne and the new age has
dawned. The new king will carry titles that could never have been given to the former
kings of Israel. He will govern by right judgment and by justice. His titles, wonder
counsellor, God-hero, Father-forever, Prince of Peace, show that he brings the reign
of God into the world. In the second reading Paul writing to Titus says that the
grace of God the Father has appeared in a visible form in Jesus. God’s freely given
love, God’s grace, is a power that has entered the lives of Christians and enables
them to live a Christ like life. It trains them to reject whatever would lead them
away from God and practice virtue. We are able to reject evil and live for God.
We have become people who belong to him eager to do what is good. This first took
place at the birth of Jesus. It became more manifest when he gave himself on the cross
for our salvation. It continues to manifest itself in the church in its eagerness
to do well. The grace given in Jesus for us engenders hope with the conviction that
God is willing to save us. At the same time the church looks forward to the appearance
of final glory seen in Jesus at the end times. Then grace will turn into glory as
Jesus saves us from sin. Paul says that God’s goodness and kindness in creating us
had more than our span on this earth in view for us. He gave us gifts capable of knowing
and understanding him and capable of enjoying a share in his own divine happiness.
Christ came to save humankind from evil and make all the people eager to do what is
good. By living such a life we are able to await confidently the coming of Christ
in glory. The Gospel of Luke gives us the narrative about the birth of Jesus placing
him at the centre of the secular Roman history. Caesar Augustus had called for a
census and he expected each adult male to report and register in his home country.
Hence Joseph had to go to Bethlehem along with Mary to his native country. There
Jesus was born in a manger or a cave because there was no room for them in the inn.
The creator of the universe could not find a place for his own son on earth. Today's
Gospel very carefully sets the tone both for the personal lifestyle of Jesus and of
the purpose for which he has come. Let us not fall into the temptation of grand romantic
surroundings. The town of Bethlehem was filled with people who had come to the place
to register themselves for the population census that was ordered by the Emperor.
The purpose of the census was mainly to collect more taxes for his treasury. Due
to this Mary and Joseph could not find a decent place to stay. They had recourse to
an empty stable, a dirty and smelly place. The child is put in a feeding box as the
only available cot. There was no place for the creator of the universe in this little
world. Yet the Gospel tells us that there was the joy of the angels and the enthusiasm
of the shepherds as they hasten to Bethlehem to find the new-born child. Joy is a
theme which goes right through Luke's gospel. It is one of the characteristics of
the true Christian. The first to be invited to visit him are the shepherds: their
status was much like the nomads found in nearly every society or any other marginalized
group. They were regarded by most "decent" people as outsiders, not fit to be part
of society. This, in fact, is Luke's way of setting the stage for Jesus' future life.
Luke likes to emphasize that Jesus came especially for the poor and the needy, for
the weak and marginalized. Later he will be accused of eating and drinking with sinners
and disreputable outcasts and will finally die discredited as a criminal and among
criminals. Some people can understand Jesus being on the side of the poor, those rejected
by the society, the tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners. But, as someone has pointed
out, Jesus loved the poor not because they were good but because they were poor. Today
he reminds us that material poverty is not the only kind that exists in the world
today. There is also moral poverty, emotional poverty, social poverty, physical poverty,
where people are sidelined. Christmas presents us a situation much different from
other divine situations. It is an event that brought about total change and transformation,
yet it remained a hard reality to the humanity. It is a day when we realize that the
whole world has changed with the birth of this divine person. It is a day of happiness
and sharing, of love and forgiveness, joy and acceptance. Jesus has come to our humanity
to infuse transformation in every segment of life. Today God tells us that we have
to change and respond to the one who has become man. For Mary and Joseph it was a
hard reality. They had leave their home and go to a strange, totally unknown place.
They had to put up with all difficulties and struggles while moving along with the
crowds. Even God does not change anything to help his own son. When the child, who
is the divine person is born there is no celebration of any sort. There is only simple
and meditative silence. Their visitors are the shepherds, simple ordinary persons.
We have beautiful statues carved and them carrying the sheep on their shoulders. But
they were actually the outcasts of the society, the hired ones as Jesus says, with
little concern for the sheep. They were specially chosen by God to be his messengers.
It shows the freedom of God and he chooses the ones he loves for his mission. Later
it was the foreigners, pagans who came to visit and offer him the gifts fit for the
king and a priest. Then there were the angels the messengers of God who bring the
message of peace and direct the shepherds to the manger where the baby is kept wrapped
in swaddling clothes. They all respond to the coming of the Lord into the world. When
Jesus first came into the world about two thousand years ago, his arrival was in fulfilment
of the promises of God. Scriptures tell us that from the fall of the first parents
God promised to send us a redeemer. The people of God waited eagerly for him. Sometimes
they showed their fidelity to God and at other times they failed. In spite of this
God sends his son to the world. The birth of Jesus is a reminder that God has not
forgotten us. It is a reminder of how much God loves us. It is a reminder that God
has reached down to us so we in turn may reach up to Him with praises and glory in
thanksgiving for our salvation. Indeed, we have not been forsaken by God. By his
birth in this world of darkness and confusion, the God who became man shows us his
will to accept the entire humanity to himself and to raise it up and integrate it
into God’s loving plan. As Christmas Prefaces remind us, in the wonder of today Jesus
has brought to the eyes of faith a new and radiant vision of God’s glory. In Jesus
we see our God made visible and so we are caught up in the love of the God we cannot
see. Today in Christ a new light has dawned upon the world. God has become one with
human race and the human race has become one again with God. Today in the darkness
of this night Jesus born as a child shines out as a wonderful light beckoning all
of us to realize our full potential. He was born in the manger as wrapped in swaddling
clothes as there was no room for them in the inn. He came to give hope to those living
in difficult situations. He came to help those who have no one to help, guide and
support. He was present to transform the world. As we wish each other the joys of
Christmas let us remind ourselves that we have a task to fulfill, to find a room to
those who have no shelter and are helpless before God. We are aware that Christmas
is the birthday of Jesus and we share it too since we are reborn as the children of
God through Jesus on this day. St John tells us that all those who received him and
believed in his name, he gave the power to be the children of God. This is the news
of great joy and he is the great light that has appeared in the world. This child
that is born in the world, a son is given to us in order to make us children of God.
He will uphold justice and righteousness forever. This light has come in the lives
of people for the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Hence the
Angels could joyfully announce to all “Glory to God in the highest and peace to those
of good will.” The message of Christmas is very clear to us. Jesus who had no
room saw that we all would secure room in his birth. Now the poor, lame, blind, lepers
and all will find a room in the babe of Bethlehem. The presence of Jesus gave room
for everyone. This is because she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in
the manger because there was no room for them in the inn; but Jesus found room for
us all by emptying himself. A little girl asked the family’s dinner guest, “Do you
like dolls?” The guest said that he indeed loves dolls. Then the girl asked him
whether he wanted to see her collection of dolls. He said it would be wonderful and
is willing to come with her. The little girl led him to her room and brought out
her beautiful collection of dolls. Seeing this variety of collection the guest asked
her which doll was her favourite. She hesitated for a while and from the collection
picked out a well-worn, tattered doll. It was missing a button eye, obviously it
was sewn in many places several times, and its dress was faded and frayed. She hugged
the doll to her chest and said: “This is Annie, and I love her more than anyone else.”
The guest was surprised at that seeing her choose the ugliest one from among the collection
of such beautiful dolls. He asked her why she loved this doll so much. He was surprised
with her touching reply: “Well, if I don’t love her, no one would.” Fr. Eugene
Lobo S,J.