CHRISTMAS DAY MASS: Is 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14  

It was a Christmas pageant presented by a class of four-year-olds, and it was an evening to remember. It began with the three Virgin Marys marching out onto the stage. It's not every Christmas pageant that has three virgin Marys, but over the years, the school had acquired three Mary costumes, and so, quite naturally, the script was revised. This gave a chance for more children to be involved and kept down the squabbling over who got the starring roles. The two Josephs walked up behind the Marys. Then, twenty little angels came out. They were dressed in white robes and huge gauze wings. They were followed by twenty little shepherd boys dressed in burlap sacks. They carried an array of objects that were supposed to be crooks. 

"It was at this point that the problem occurred. During the dress rehearsal, the teacher used chalk to draw circles on the floor to mark where the angels were supposed to stand and crosses to mark the spots of the shepherds. But the children had practised with their regular clothes on. So, on the night of the pageant, the angels came walking out with their beautiful gauze wings and stood in their circles. However, their huge wings covered the crosses of the shepherds as well. So when the time came for the shepherds to find their places, they did not know where to go because the angels took up all their space.

"There was one little boy who became extremely frustrated and angry over the whole experience. He finally spied his teacher behind the curtains and shocked everyone when he said in a loud stage whisper heard by everyone, 'Because of these blankety-blank angels, I can't find the cross!'" (1)

He didn't say, "blankety-blank," but we are in church, after all. 

 

The romantic elements of Christmas...the shepherds, the wise men, the angels, the star in the East, not to mention the commercialism of Christmas...have a tendency to obscure the important meaning of it all, particularly the message of the cross. 

That is why it might be healthy for us on this Christmas Day to turn to the prologue to John's Gospel for our scripture lesson. There are no angels, no shepherds, no stars, not even Mary and Joseph. Instead, there is some of the most beautiful and important theological language ever written: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made."

 

The tradition of reading the prologue on Christmas Day serves the purpose of climaxing every celebration with the compelling and beautiful truth of the Incarnation, the dogma that speaks of the act and decision of the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, becoming man – the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The prologue situates the Christmas story outside the confines of human history. In fact, it provides for the words and works of the Incarnate Word an eternal background or origin and proceeds to proclaim His divinity and eternity. He who "became flesh" in time, is the Word Himself from all eternity. He is the only begotten Son of God "who is in the bosom of the Father." He is the Son "consubstantial with the Father," He is "God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God." He is the Word "through whom everything was made”… “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”

This focus on the Incarnation and the Divinity of Christ reminds us that we are not celebrating the birthday of a celebrity, a great hero, a sage guru, or an illustrious prophet. We are celebrating the birth into human history of the Divine and Eternal Word, the Son of God, the One from whom and in whom all things were made. "The Son of God became man", St Athanasius explains, "in order that the sons of men, the sons of Adam, might become sons of God.” With all the gift-giving, merry-making, and commercialisation of our feast, it is quite easy to forget this very central truth.

The doctrine of the Incarnation is central to a Christian celebration of Christmas, a truth that is currently under attack. The doctrine of the Incarnation is one which is vital to the Christian faith because other doctrines will stand or fall with it. We cease to be Christians the moment we deny that Jesus is God. Our belief that He is God sets us apart from other religions.

Can we truly celebrate Christmas and, at the same time, deny both the humanity and the divinity of Christ? The answer to that question must be a decisive ‘No’. Those who reject these truths empty our celebration of its essential content – Christmas is not just a celebration of the birthday of our founder, a sentimental reason for gathering as a family, an occasion for gift-giving and carolling, a cultic act to proclaim the legendary charity of St Nicholas. For us Christians, Christmas must always be a celebration affirming our belief in both the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. He is fully God and fully Man. The Incarnation does not stand alone as a doctrine that can be severed from the rest. On the contrary, it is an irreducible part of the revelation about the person and work of Jesus Christ. With it, the Gospel stands or falls.

It is often the case that we are invited to admire the humility of our Lord Jesus Christ as He chose to be born in the spartan conditions of a cave or stable in Bethlehem. But this morning’s liturgy also invites us to humbly kneel in adoration before the One who chose to kneel before His disciples to wash their feet. It’s time to rescue this Feast of Christmas from all that sentimental sugar coating. It is the Feast by which we affirm once again our belief in His divinity. Together with Pope Benedict, we affirm that our “Faith is simple and rich: we believe that God exists, that God counts; but which God? A God with a face, a human face, a God who reconciles, who overcomes hatred and gives us the power of peace that no one else can give us.” May the Incarnate Word shower His peace on all those who are seeking his will. Glory to God in the highest and peace to people of Goodwill.