The birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem promised mercy, eternal life, hope and everlasting love. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid”.
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Bishop’s homily was part of the Cathedral parish’s 4 p.m. Mass that was recorded for broadcast Christmas morning at 11 on 22News WWLP and again at 1 p.m. on the CW Springfield. Here are five about hope, celebration, mercy, love and joy amid grief.
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Depending on whom you ask, it’s a little over 2,000 years since Jesus’ birth.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters, May God bless you, your family, and every family in Barbados during this attractive season of Christmas.
Yet this is the Christmas reality experienced today by the ever-growing numbers of migrants and refugees throughout the world. For others, Christmas is about Santa, elves, the reindeer, lights, mistletoe, pageants, concerts and parties.
Christmas is about Jesus. The prophet Isaiah foretold of this gift when he said “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”. Even time is measured in relationship to his birth. We have seen people fleeing from their homes because of war or oppression.
Still, that is not the reason he came.
Let’s take a look at what we can accomplish when we take Jesus off the bench. We remember the Christmas story this day because of all the darkness that pervaded the earth when our Savior was born.
With zealous hearts we take the path to peace and fullness of life. There is a lot of lament in our world right now, passionate expressions of grief. When viewing the Christmas story through this lens, new and exciting themes quickly begin to rise to the surface. This is a complicated story set in a community, subjugated by a mighty power.
We’re familiar with Matthew’s version of how an angel explains Mary’s pregnancy to Joseph, but Luke only depicts Mary as being in on the plan, whereas Joseph seems happy without an explanation!
We bring to our Christmas activities all of this complexity. But of course we will never know God sufficiently to understand.
But in the midst of all the lamenting, there is this baby, this spark of joy, this hope for a new reality. Now the night had arrived. God gives himself to Mary and Joseph, as love, and through them to all the world. For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Second Corinthians 8:9 says, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich”. The believer’s hope is different from the hope in the world.
But when we truly grasp what took place in the manger in Bethlehem, the story of Jesus’ coming will never become routine. In the Gospel of John, we receive a prologue that is more like a Baptist anthem celebrating the entry of God into the world. May you experience the gift that God showers on you through your family.
This is a jubilee year of mercy given to us by Pope Francis.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Instead of hatred, in baby Jesus in the manger we see tenderness.
Mary surrendered to God. Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?” Be sure to receive it. And He graciously empowered us to have dominion over His creation and to lead a life of joy, peace, and prosperity. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
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While perhaps preoccupied with the costs of gifts we gave to others, even before our credit-card bills come in, we can easily overlook the larger cost of God’s Christmas gift to us. The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), Moskovitz says, commands Jews to “love the stranger because we were once strangers in the land”. What a wonderful message, what a wonderful gift and what a wonderful season.
