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Christmas 2008 1. At breakfast this morning, Fr. Archie was asking me how it felt to celebrate Christmas without all the snow,
cold, and Frosty the Snowman. He mentioned that it seemed a bit unreal when he was in Europe one Christmas – it was a bit unreal without the Lechon, the Bangus, the rice and puto. When I called my mother this
morning at 6:00 it was six in the evening there, she said they had had two snowstorms and there was a blizzard, so it was difficult for people to drive. When I put the phone down, I wondered whether this Christmas would be different. I thought, I have heard at least 50 homilies and I have preached 35, I cannot remember one of them. It is not important to remember homilies, because like Jesus when he was lost in the Temple, we are told, he went home with his parents and he grew in knowledge and wisdom before God and the people. So each Christmas is a new experience of a growing relationship with a God who came in flesh so that we might experience God’s love. 1a. However, we can take the title of an old song by Marty Haugen to make this Christmas memorable for each one of us this year:
2. WE REMEMBER. In our first reading our ancestors in faith, the Jewish people remember two dramatic incidents related by one of the most well known passages in Isaiah. It is a double Victory: The Victory of the Harvest. They had been living in Midian and they were persecuted. Every time they planted their crops and they were ready for harvesting their enemies would come and destroy everything. The Victory on the battle field. Isaiah says that the boots that trampled the battlefields and the clothes covered with blood would be burnt. Today we also experience that Victory of Harvest. We have been having one Christmas party after another – and the only one sorry, is the poor Lechon. However, we can still pray for the Victory on the battlefield – there are still too many deaths by stabbing and gunfire in the streets of our big cities: Manila and Cebu. We also remember the Christ of History. Matthew simply says Mary bore a son, and Joseph named him Jesus. Luke gives us just seven verses which end with : Mary gave birth to Jesus and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn. So few details for a such an important part of our Catholic faith. As a result tradition and devotion have added a whole set of details.
In all we have seven verses for the story of the Nativity, and 14 verses for the story of the Angels and Shepherds. All this is a part of our devotion. We have a “Belen” – our liturgy has developed a blessing of the crib, the carrying of the statue of the Baby Jesus and placing him in the “Belen” or Crib. We have beautiful songs like Silent Night, O Holy night, while shepherds watched their flocks, O little town of Bethlehem, -- unfortunately in this mixture of devotional songs, we have Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus. It is all a part of “We Remember”. However, we cannot just stay with these details of 2000 years ago, for as one wise person said, “If we only remember History, we will loose the grace of the Mystery.” The Mystery is that a God who is all powerful, all self-sufficient, without a beginning, chose to come as a Vulnerable baby in Bethlehem Came in time, to be with us Came to fill us, complete us who are limited and incomplete. WE CELEBRATE. Once we have meditated and appropriated (made our own) this Mystery then the only result is that We Celebrate. We celebrate our freedom, in the morning Mass of the 24th we had the song of Zechariah, in that canticle, Zechariah celebrated the Freedom that was achieved for us by a loving God. The grace of freedom is mentioned in four different verses. We celebrate the fact that now that our Saviour has come we can in freedom live our lives to the full capacity, full potential, the fullness that God wants of each of us. John expressed it beautifully in the first chapter of his Gospel, The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. For those who received this Word, was given the power to become Children of God. The Children of the house have a right to all the riches, the privileges and the benefits of the Father. Today we celebrate this gift – sometimes we see it in the gifts under the Christmas tree, or the gifts given by Santa Claus, or the gifts given by our friends. These gifts tell us that some one loves us, someone cares for us, someone has taken the trouble, the effort, the energy and the sacrifice to go to a Mall, to a store, to choose something. In doing this they are saying in a way: “You are special, and I want to tell you so.” You are special not only to me, but to the community and you bring joy and grace and peace by your presence. Christmas cards that are worth reading express exactly this thought. We celebrate it by singing the responsorial Psalm: 96 – it is a new song, forever new, celebrating with joy, that today is born for us a Saviour. It calls on heaven to rejoice and even the earth be glad. It is an environmentally friendly song, and most appropriate as we continue to rape the earth with huge bull dozers, pollution and weapons of mass destruction – not the invisible ones in Iraq but the continued nuclear testing done by powerful nations. With this hope and confidence we can say: WE BELIEVE. Our belief is in dogmas, and articles of faith to begin with. 1600 years ago, at Ephesus, the theologians and Church fathers – thrashed out in detail what we mean when we say Jesus was truly God and truly man. Today we say that easily and without giving much thought to what it means. We will kneel if that is the custom in this church during the singing at the words, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” However, as we celebrate our faith, our belief is also in action. A group of young students were rushing to catch the Super Ferry from Balingoan to reach the Island of Camiguin. In doing so, one of them dashed the stand and spilled all the Lanzones of a little girl who was selling them. They rushed on, but one stayed behind. He was glad that he did. The girl was blind and in tears. Selling those Lanzones would put food on her table that night. The young man gathered the fruit and rearranged the stand. Some of the fruit were bruised and spoilt because they had fallen. He put these aside and put 400 pesos in her hand. This is for those I bought he said. He did not tell her they were damaged. I must rush to catch the next boat. As he was going away, she called in a soft voice, “Sir, Sir, are you Jesus?” In some churches on Christmas Day, instead of saying the Apostles Creed, “I believe” they say the Nicene Creed, “We believe” –God from God, Light from light. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. At this time the whole congregation kneels in silent prayer. This is an important part of our WE BELIEVE. However, if people cannot see and mistake us for Jesus Christ, then something is missing. Jesus said in his own time, “It is not enough to say Lord, Lord to enter the Kingdom” – our words must be accompanied by a difference in our life-style. Our vocation, our calling as Christians is to say : We Believe, but it is also a calling to be Witnesses to that command of Jesus to love one another as He loved us, so that looking at us, others around us will also say: because of you, WE BELIEVE. A man came before the Judgment seat of God. He said, Lord, I have lived a good life, I have not cheated anyone, I did not do anything evil. I have kept your law. See my hands are clean. The Lord answered him, “Your hands are certainly clean. But they are empty.” Today is Christmas, the Lord’s birthday. Have you come with a gift for Jesus ? Or are your hands empty? Happy Christmas to you and your family, and blessings of Jesus Mary and Joseph on you through 2009.
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