On this most holy day, allow me to wish all of you a very blessed Christmas! I hope all of your preparations have been successful and you will be able to take a moment to sit back and reflect on the meaning of this great Feast – the birth of God’s only son for our salvation! All around you – even in the secular Christmas decorations and events around you – you can find symbols of this pivotal moment in Salvation History. Take, for example the Christmas tree. It is taken from the medieval German tradition that was in response to their belief that the gods and good spirits abandoned the earth in the winter, as seen by the lengthening darkness of every passing day and scarcity of food. They would hang food on an evergreen tree in the dead of winter to entice the gods and good spirits back to earth. Candles on the tree lit up the food so the food could be seen. We Christians took this pagan practice and provided our own interpretation. The evergreen tree – the only tree left alive in the midst of leafless trees that appear to be dead – symbolize the life of Christ that comes to us who are dead to sin. The ornaments speak of the many gifts that come to us as a result of our Lord’s birth. And, the lights remind us of Jesus, who is the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12). The wreath, which is traditionally made of evergreens as well, speaks of the eternal life God comes to give us through his son. The cards we send recall the good news that the angels brought to the shepherds in the field at our Lord’s birth: “For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is the Messiah and Lord!” (Luke 2:11) And, the gifts we exchange reflect the great gift God sent us – his son in the flesh.
We rejoice as Jesus is born into the Holy Family of Joseph and Mary. And, ordinarily, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year. This year, however, both Christmas and New Year occur on a Sunday, leaving no Sundays between them. So, the Feast of the Holy Family will be celebrated next Friday, 30 December. Of course, these two feasts flow from one to the other so allow me to reflect on the significance that these special celebrations have for all of us.
The birth of Jesus Christ, Son of God and son of Mary is, indeed, one of the greatest celebrations of our entire liturgical year, second only to Holy Week and Easter. After revealing himself in mysterious ways throughout Salvation History (e.g., a burning bush, a pillar of fire and column of smoke in the desert, a hand writing on the wall), and communicating himself through a variety of prophets, in the fullness of time, God came into our midst in person. What love and care he shows us all – that the all-powerful, infinite God would become man, as we hear stated so poetically in the Christmas Day gospel passage:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. …
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth. (Jn. 1:1, 14)
We hear in the Christmas Vigil gospel account that Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, was found with child through the power of the Spirit of God. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and commanded him to name her child Jesus, which means “God saves.” As we hear in that gospel account, this was to fulfill the prophecy found in Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.”
All of this happened within the context of family life. In the Gospel of Luke, we read about Mary traveling to help her cousin, Elizabeth who was pregnant with her first child. She was an older woman and Mary wanted to offer her assistance even though she, too, was pregnant. Clearly, Mary had already learned the importance of her family and even her extended family. And, in the gospel passage we hear on the Feast of the Holy Family, Joseph takes his family first to Egypt and then to live in Nazareth to protect them from the Roman rulers who were looking to kill Jesus because they had heard that he was the newborn king of the Jews. Joseph understands and accepts his role of protector and provider of his family.
It is within our family that most of us learn about God and are taught about his love for us and how we are to grow in our love for him and one another. It is within our families that we, like Jesus, usually advance “in wisdom and age and favor before God and man” (Lk. 2:52). And so, I invite you to reflect on both the wondrous mystery of God becoming man so that we could, once again, become one with God and the call for us all to make our homes and our families miniature churches, as the early Church Fathers instructed so well. In this way, everyone in our home will grow in love of God – who came to show us his love in person – and one another – for we are all made in the image of God. That’s why the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us!