HOMILY FOR CHRISTMAS DAY MASS OF THE SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD YEAR C.

Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98:1-6. R/ v.3; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18.

“CHRIST THE REASON FOR THE SEASON”

           By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      The long-awaited day is here, and we can boldly say to one and another, “MERRY CHRISTMAS”. For some why waste time to say “MERRY CHRISTMAS” when we can simply say MERRY XMAS or HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

·      For those of us who are very vigilant, we will see that there is deliberate propaganda to dissociate Christ from Christmas. People now want to secularise this deeply spiritual occasion and reduce it to civic time for visitations, decorating the house, buying new clothes, giving alms to the poor without any reference to Christ who is the reason for the season.

·      Dear friends in Christ, no matter how we try, we cannot deny the fact that Christ is at the centre of the Christmas celebration, it is a universal attestation that the saviour of the world has been born for us.

·      No doubt that Christmas, has become a universal celebration, public holidays are declared, people go on vacation, everybody wants to celebrate Christmas, with little or no knowledge or relationship with the one who is the reason for the season. People could commit heinous crimes just to acquire enough money to have a flamboyant Christmas celebration, people cheat in marketplaces, and people tell lies and the likes to have enough to celebrate Christmas. How can we go use sin to celebrate the sinless, how can we use violence and mediocrity to celebrate the prince of peace?

·      Many people jump into the atmosphere of Christmas with little or no connection with the person who is being celebrated and why. This is the unfortunate situation that has turned Christmas into Xmas. And the birth of Christ to the bloom of commerce. Someone once wrote an article titled “Why I hate Christmas”. Among other things, he bemoaned the fact that Christmas has been commercialized and the values lost!

·      If you take an extensive and intensive check, you will see that attention of the world has shifted from God, the Father of Christmas to ‘Santa Claus’ - “Father Christmas”. From giving ourselves to God to giving ourselves to “goods”. From celebrating Christ to celebrating crisis. Christmas has been redefined and misapplied. Christ the reason for the season has been taken away from the celebration. So, in the face of all these, we ask: Where is Christ in our Christmas?

·      At the Mass of Christmas, this day, we always hear from the Gospel of John.  It is a very different account of the birth of the Lord Jesus:  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory.  There are no details about the birth but only a reflection on how this birth has changed our world entirely.  John is completely confident that all that is in the world has come to be, in Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ, who is born for us this day. This is simply the reason for the season!

·      Perhaps we are not theologians!  Even without being theologians, we can recognize John’s message to us:  the world has changed because Christ is born.  Christ has come into our world and changed it entirely.  It can never be the same, no matter how dark and awful the world may seem.  Rather, the world is shot through with the glory of God and with the light of His love.

·      The first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, tells us:  How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings.  Whose feet?  The feet of our Lord.  The feet that at His birth were the feet of a baby!  God becomes helpless and at the mercy of our humanity.  God becomes powerless even though He is all-powerful.  The striking contrasts of this day should be in our hearts:  God is a baby.  God is human.  God is weak and at our mercy.  God hands his love over to our sinfulness.  God loves us always even when we do not love in return.

·      The Letter to the Hebrews takes us this theme:  God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors.  Now God sends His own Son, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word.

·      Yet when we look at Jesus we are always put to the test.  Jesus is God but is meek and humble.  Jesus is the reflection of the glory of God, and yet is humiliated and punished for our sins.  Jesus sustains all things by His mighty word.  That word at his birth was the simple cry of an infant.

·      My sisters and brothers, the mystery of the birth of Jesus can captivate our hearts and lead us to follow Him.  The mystery of a God, the only God, who humbles Himself completely because He loves us.  This mystery of Christmas calls us to rejoice and to allow our hearts to be possessed totally by Him and His love.

·      At Christmas, we are called to share the joy, help the poor, show mercy as God showed mercy to us. This “mercy project” is more needful as we have entered the year of mercy. At Christmas, we are called upon to discover Christ in the people around us. Those old clothes, shoes, and other things can become some other person’s great treasure for pleasure this season. As you move around, 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 in orphanages and internally displaced people’s camps haemorrhaging with deprivation and thus in need. It is not a time for excessive drinking, debauchery, or recklessness, it is not a time for sinning but a time of grace to show the world that indeed Christ is the reason for the season!

·      Christmas cannot be complete until we discover Christ who is the true and ideal reason for the season. Do have a gracious celebration of Christmas and may God’s grace remain doubled in your life. Remember to keep Christ in Christmas!

·      Happy Christmas and have a Christ-filled celebration!