CHRISTMAS DAY

Isaiah 52:7-10   Psalm: 98  Hebrews 1:1-6   John 1:1-18, or 1:1-5, 9-14

1. Although I have used my laptop computer always plugged into the electrical system, the battery is running down. When I tried to get a new battery, the salesperson said, your laptop is eight years old, they do not make those batteries any more. We are moving fast in this world. We have oodles of new information, new technology, new gadgets – we have far more knowledge and information but are we any wiser. Our expertise is becoming narrower, and our vision getting more specialised – and like my computer – we seem to be

 

more in the darkness than in the light,

more specialised in hopelessness than in the joy of life.

2. Then I read the scriptural texts for this Christmas Mass and it seemed to be a double whammy. I was expecting something earthy, something tangible – after all the WORD became flesh. I was looking out for

• a vulnerable baby, wrapped tightly in swaddling clothes,
• a manger that was musty with hay, cobwebs and cow-dung.
• I wanted to see a baby awake, and a crying he makes –
• there should be the dirty diaper or  a hungry baby.

But the readings seem to deal with ontological realities

There are the sounds of those, who bring the good news, who announce peace, who announce salvation.

We find a God who speaks in various times and various places.

There is a reference to the reflection of God’s glory,

There is a reference to an exact imprint of God’s very being.

And finally a Gospel that speaks of the Word – which was in the beginning, and which was with God.

I remembered the story of a little girl who wanted to have a light in her room when she slept. Her mother said to her that there was no need of the light, since God was the light and God would take care of her. The little girl said, but mommy I want a God who with skin! If at any feast – it is the feast of the Nativity that we need a God who has skin!

The only earthy feature is the sounds of the feet on the mountain. The first image of a foot on the mountain, that came to my mind,  was that of the big foot of Yeti the imaginary snowman (typical for this time of the year.) or the feet of Gregory Hines tap dancing or Karen Kane on her tippy toes.

However, the good news is the mystery of God’s generosity to us – and that is very tangible. It is the fullness of a God, the utter completeness of a God, a God who needs nothing – what do you get for a person who needs nothing? Yet this God decides to be among us. And we do not welcome God. But for those who do – we have the power to become Children of God.

Two days ago, our Church buried 87 year old Urbano Quelnat. He has been a regular quiet gentleman in our parish. He reminded me of Simeon who waited for so long to see the consolation of Israel. (Luke 2: 25) He was the grandfather of one our altar servers, and although I did not do the funeral, I went to the wake. The family was overjoyed to see a priest. I did nothing, I did not even say the customary prayers, I just shook hands, and was present to the daughter and the three sons who had lost their father. And I remembered the “sound of the feet of the one who brings good news, who announces peace, who announces salvation .” Their happiness and the affirmation of their faith - was not an ontological reality, it was a tangible, earthy experience. Here one could experience the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us.

There was death, there was sorrow, there was mourning. But here was the imprint of God’s very being, here was the reflection of God’s glory – not because I was there, but because of their faith, their tradition, their respect for their priest.  It made me realise that the Word of God was present in flesh and blood as the pictures, taken on a digital camcorder, the fruit of modern technology – were flashing on the screen.

John tells us in ch 10 vs 10: Jesus said, I came that they may have life, and have it to the full. The irony is that it was in Rosar’s funeral parlour, in the middle of death – that we experienced life. We witnessed the joy and peace and harmony that Isaiah speaks of in the 11 chapter:

• the wolf will live with the lamb
• the leopard lie down with the kid
• the calf and the lion and the fatling will graze together
• a child shall lead them

My dear friends, in the readings for the midnight Mass, we heard those beautiful words “a child has been born to us, a son has been given us.” The good news is that ours are the feet on the mountains, and in the valleys, on the flat pavements and slippery roads – that have to announce a peace and a salvation to all.

Our reading from Hebrews tells us that God who spoke in many and various times, now in their last days has spoken to us through his Son. So far the image, the vision of God has been fragmentary and limited, but now in Jesus we have the fullness of God’s image and reflection. This is not an invitation to be arrogant and act superior.

I was recently at a Hannukah dinner, and one of my Jewish friends said to me, we are both waiting for the Messiah – you for the second time, and I for the first! As we ate the matzah bread and drank the wine, I thought. I know and believe that the fullness of God is in Jesus. He knows and believes that the Messiah is still to come.  My life should show the peace and salvation that the Messiah brings. His life should show the excitement and the anticipation of a Messiah still to come. We should be encouraging and helping one another in our beliefs and expectation. Our theological understanding and beliefs would not make one bit of difference to God who has made a promise of salvation – and to the Word who came that all should be one day at the banquet of the Lord.

As we share gifts on this Holy Day, may our hearts welcome joyfully the Gift of God to each one of us: Jesus born in a manger.

As we eat our own Christmas dinners, may we remember the nourishment we receive from the table of the Lord.