Homily, December 18, 2022
From The Pastor
Marking time is important. Days, weeks, months, and years flow endlessly forward. The passage of time bears its influence and things inevitably change. The marking of time with various kinds of celebrations gives meaning and purpose to what would otherwise become a dull repetition of days. The human spirit needs positive, meaningful, and warm social interactions to sustain faith, hope, and love in our weary world. Gathering to celebrate is a very human trait that builds and unites societies, families, and strengthens bonds of love across humanity.
Are you excited about Christmas this year? Do you have a sense of expectation as you look for joy and hope in the Christmas feast? It may seem like an odd question. Everybody loves Christmas. Families gather, traditions are celebrated, gifts are exchanged, children overdosed on cookies and candy canes run wild with joy. What’s not to like? Coming from a large family, Christmas was great fun. Lots of presents, the house full of people, good food and drink, card games, and no school the next day. What more could you want? But we’re not kids anymore, and the social and cultural activity of Christmas can leave us wanting.
Christmas is a feast that celebrates the coming of our Savior that radically changed the world and every person in it. It is a spiritual season that calls for attentive preparation to receive Jesus with gratitude and renewed hope. Christmas reminds us we are the beloved of God. Christmas reveals the power of Divine Light in a world darkened by sin felt in the weight of war, oppression, poverty, and broken human relationships.
We have had a tough time these last several years. Could the pandemic, political disorder, economic woes, with social and moral diminishments be clouding the truth of Christmas in the gift of salvation? The promises of old are now fulfilled in the birth of the Lord Jesus. It is ours, through faith, to profess and make Christ present in the world through lives noticeably marked by love.
The readings today make evident the tension between those who rebel against God and those who surrender with obedient love. Ahaz is the King of Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel. Ahaz is arrogantly irreligious as he rejects the prophecy and wisdom of Isaiah to ask God for a sign. He prefers to give his allegiance to Assyria and take his chances. God trumps his rebellion by giving a sign whether he wants one or not. The sign is ‘the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and you shall name him Emmanuel.’ The fulfillment of the prophesy is Mary and the child of her womb, Jesus.
God’s desire and design for human salvation will not be thwarted. In contrast to Ahaz, consider the response of Mary and Joseph to God’s call. Both are faithful Jews who honor and fulfill the rubrics of their religion. Beyond religion, Mary and Joseph have great faith in God. They know the history of Israel’s beginning with Abraham, through Moses, freedom from slavery in Egypt, and the promise of a homeland. They are aware of the infidelities of their people as they endure the weight of Roman oppression. Times are hard. They cling to faith in the hope of a coming Messiah.
Both Mary and Joseph loved God deeply. They desired the way of God with confident trust in Divine providence. They desired to do God’s will. In his love for God, Joseph could not betray his love for Mary. He accepted her conception as an action of God for a Divine purpose. Surrendering to the unknown, evidence of his deep faith, he receives Mary as his wife and Jesus as his legal son. He trusted God’s will in the coming of the Messiah.
With love beyond religious practice, Mary does the same. She longs for the salvation of her nation and its people. If God needs her for a purpose, without knowing all the answers, she gives her yes. The name Jesus given the child tells them enough. “She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’
There you have it. The meaning of Christmas is the joy of our salvation. God doing for us what we can never do for ourselves. This is a joy that will never be found in the news, at the mall, on the iPad, or any Google site. We need a Savior. We need to be freed from the tension of sin, the deception of evil, and the fear of death. Jesus has accomplished that. This is the ultimate and endless Good News. You are loved, valued, redeemed, and promised a place in heaven through the life of the Lord Jesus. Your life is radically different because of Jesus Christ.
Christmas is one week away. Prepare as best you can to allow Jesus to be reborn in you. Look for joy. Consciously attend to gratitude. Fast from the news or at least one thing that weighs you down. Put some skin in the game. Love more. Complain less. Focus your hope on God. Because of Jesus, make Christmas the best celebration you ever had. Have a party in your soul with your heart given to the Lord. Rejoice as if that precious new baby was your own. It is, in the company of all humanity and creation.
Father John Esper
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