CHRISTMAS DAY MASS (Jn.1:1-18)

After a long day’s Christmas shopping a man remarked , "I’m glad that Christmas comes only once a year. It leaves my pocketbook pretty thin." If all that Christmas means is a seasonal shopping spree, it leaves only a bitter taste in the mouth. To be sure, there is a sweet sentimentality about the candlelight service on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day itself is joyfully observed in our homes. But then what? Suddenly the long awaited holiday is all over and the inevitable feeling of letdown sets in. Another Christmas has come and gone. Does this mean that like the ornaments on the Christmas tree the Christmas story too is to be stored away until next year?

Those who have grasped the true meaning of Christmas know that it is not a mere date in a calendar. It is a glorious truth which retains its vitality throughout the year.

What is the perennial truth which the Christmas story brings to a focus? The author of the fourth gospel captures it and is led to tell the story in a strange way. He says nothing about the angels or the shepherds, about the manger or the star of Bethlehem. But he grasps the permanent meaning of the event that happened in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, what the birth of the Christ-child has meant through the rolling centuries, what it means to us today. The almighty God who by his word made heaven and earth expressed himself, made himself known to men, by taking on the flesh and blood of a human baby. The eternal word became a human being. This is the abiding mystery and wonder of Christmas.

The baby born to a young Jewish girl almost 2,000 years ago is none other than "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God." When he grew up and taught people on a mountainside or a lake shore, it was God himself speaking the same creative word by which the heavens were made. When he was nailed to a Roman cross planted on a Judean hill, it was God in action to reconcile an estranged world to himself. And when he rose from the dead, it was God bringing eternal life to mortal men. Man’s life is now linked with God’s life. Saint Irenaeus, one of the great early Fathers of the church, states the meaning of Christmas in words of simple beauty and depth: "Jesus Christ, in his infinite love, has become what we are in order that he may make us entirely what He is."

The Christian message must never lose sight of its ultimate goal, the establishment of a personal relationship between human beings and the God who confronts them man to man in Christ. For this reason the "Jesus our Immanuel" of whom we sing at Christmas must be the Jesus who brings God into our life every day.

As a mother tucked her child in bed and left her alone in the bedroom, she said quietly, "It looks as if we shall have a thunderstorm tonight. But do not be afraid. God will take care of you." Soon the storm did break with fierce flashings and thunderings. The frightened child cried out for her mother. When the mother came and comforted her, she said gently, "You know, dear, I told you God is right here and he takes care of you." The child replied, "Yes, mother, I know that, but when it thunders like that a little girl wants somebody near who has skin on."

A word was not enough. Even a mother’s reassuring word was inadequate. The child needed a friendly human presence, a gentle human voice, the touch of a warm human hand. That is how the Baby of Bethlehem brings God to us. God has been a word, an awe-inspiring word or an encouraging and comforting word. But the word has represented a fuzzy idea, something or somebody far, far away. Now the word becomes flesh. God puts on human nature, with its skin and all, and becomes a living and saving presence. He is now more than a word. He is Immanuel, God with us.

The word that became flesh for us becomes flesh in us as he uses us to establish contact with other people. Christ himself walks in our steps, looks through our eyes, thinks in our thoughts, speaks through our words, loves through our hearts. Through us the Kingdom of God effects on the lives of men and God becomes real to them.

Jesus came that we might become children of God. So often we miss the real meaning of Christ’s coming. We say that Christ came to die for the sins of the world. Well, he did die. And by his death we do find salvation. But according to John, that wasn’t the only thing why he came. He came so that we might become a new creation. As John writes, “. . . to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Imagine that--you and I, are children of God. That is, Christmas is ultimately about transformation.

That’s why Christ came: to bring light into a dark world. To make it possible for every person on earth to know that they are children of God.

Once there was a Rabbi who asked his disciples the following question:  "How do you know when the darkness has been overcome, when the dawn has arrived?"  One of the disciples answered, "When you can look into the distance and tell the difference between a cow and a deer, then you know dawn has arrived.”  “Close," the Rabbi responded, "but not quite."  Another disciple ventured a response, "When you can look into the distance and distinguish a peach blossom from an apple blossom, then you know that the darkness has been overcome."  "Not bad," the Rabbi said, “not bad! But the correct answer is slightly different.  When you can look on the face of any man or any woman and know immediately that this is God’s child and your brother or sister, then you know that the darkness has been overcome, that the Daystar has appeared."

If we let Christ into the inn of our hearts, he will make our hearts more like his, and we, like him, will fill this world with a light that no darkness can extinguish.

Jesus is glad that we are here today to celebrate his birthday, and he is hoping that we will give him the only present he really wants: our renewed commitment to spread the Good News of salvation to everyone around us - a commitment that we fulfill in our everyday activities, through our way of life, words, and works. He is eager for us to give him that gift, because he loves us without limits, and he knows that if we give happiness to others, we will receive much more happiness ourselves. Let this celebration of the birth of Christ give us also a new birth in Christ and make us children of God.