Homily for Sunday 25th December 2022 - Christmas Day

Homily for Sunday 25th December 2022

Christmas

The Gospel for Christmas day reminds us that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Everything came into being through Him and could not be made without him. The light shine in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome the light.

Our Christ’s Mass is about God wanting to be in the world with us. He did not come into the world as a fully grown adult, which he could have, but what would the point of that be? No, he chose to come into the world as everyone of us has, through a mother. Mary was chosen, accepted God’s will and believed in him.

The world Jesus came into was also harsh like today. Fully of men made gods created out of human hands. Objects people often obsessed over and dedicate far too much time too. Today, we have cars, computers, cameras and many other things created by humans. All have converged into one mobile. An object that seems as attached to us as an arm or a leg. Even when driving the car can switch from radio to the phone for incoming and outgoing calls. Cameras on the car can tell us whether we are too close to another object when reversing. Sensors can keep us in the right lane and can limit our cars to certain speed limits. Accidents can be recorded up ahead. And soon, the car will be able to take over and drive itself. Who knows what artificial intelligence will bring to the car? All made by humans and enhanced by technology.

In the back of the car, the kids listen to their own devices, oblivious to the world outside. All is peaceful. Long gone are the days, it might seem, of eye spy and communication between passengers and driver becomes rarer.

We are distracted into our own little worlds, separate from one another. It can be like this in work. Deadlines after deadlines limits the amount of time we have to chat, leading up to more and more stress. The more we try to take control the less we seem to have.

As Mary came close to full term, Joseph was required to travel to Bethlehem in order to be counted on Emperor Augustus’s register. There was no place to stay so Mary had to give birth to Jesus in a stable, wrap him in swaddling clothes and lay him in a manger.

Outside the town, shepherds were visited by angels announcing with great joy the Saviour’s birth and guiding them to where he could be found. The shepherds could have stayed put. Their job was to look after the flock, which could easily have been taken by predators. But no if the angels weren’t a spectacle for one night, the shepherds were eager to find the one spoken about. So they visited the stable to find the child with his mother and, earthly father.

The shepherds told Mary and Joseph what they had seen and why they had come. When the shepherds left, the glorified and praised God. For all they had heard and seen. Mary treasured their words and pondered on them.

This is also a time for us to ponder on what this means. In our world we may seem to be walking in darkness. If we can separate ourselves from the pressures we feel we are under and can see that they are all man made pressures, we will be able to see the light that has come into the world.

We are here in the presence of God to celebrate Christ’s Mass. Through Isaiah, God is asking us to rejoice and be happy for the greatest gift of all has been given to us, in which God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, has been given to us. God’s grace gives us salvation. It is not something we have earned, but has been given to us freely because God loves us. We have been set free because of Jesus’s sacrifice, both in becoming human and by suffering on the cross.

This is our Holy Day. A day where we should separate ourselves from the hardships the world puts on us and to give ourselves as a gift, to be in the presence of our Lord, by sharing our being with those around us. TO be with them. Share what is going on in the present moment and fully commit to the now.

Christmas dinner can be a pressured time for whoever is trying to organise the meal, so if you are not the one making it perhaps you can help in some way? Make this a joint activity to help create a special day for them also. This is part of the gift we can give of ourselves to them.

And remember, today a saviour has been born to us, Christ the Lord. Alleluia, Alleluia. Happy Christmas to one and all. Amen.

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