A Homily for Christmas, 2006
“What would the world be like, if Christmas hadn’t happened?” (Knox, Pastoral and Occasional Sermons, Ignatius Press, p. 422) So asked the famous convert to Catholicism and outstanding preacher Fr. Ronald Knox in 1953. I think it is still a very excellent question for us to contemplate this Christmas. Often the Advent season is filled with so much rushing around with shopping, decorating, baking and going to parties, that it is very easy to lose sight of “the Reason for the Season.”
There are so many levels on which we could ponder this question. On a purely theological level we really have no way of answering the question. I think we can be confident that in His great mercy, God would not have left us enslaved to sin, but how God would have countered the effects of Adam’s fault, other than by sending His only-begotten Son, we cannot even begin to pretend to guess. The ways of God are just too mysterious.
A more fruitful reflection on the question, “What would the world be like if Christmas hadn’t happened?” must begin in the world of our common experience; “the sort of way we live, the sort of way we treat one another, the sort of behaviour we expect of one another” (Knox, p. 422). Of course the full impact of the Gospel still has not been completely integrated into our daily lives, the Kingdom of God is already but not yet complete. Probably the most important impact of Jesus, “God-with-us,” on society has been the recognition of basic human rights. St. Paul, in writing to the Christians in Galatia, says “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:27-28). This is a radical way of looking at human nature in comparison to the pagan world in which St. Paul lived which divided the very dignity of people based on their race and national origin. For the Christian, however, we see that there is a basic dignity that all human beings share because we are all made in the image and likeness of God. Of course this truth is still not fully lived out in society – there is still discrimination against some groups of people – but over all there is a recognition that such discrimination must come to an end.
Even this reflection, however, is too abstract. What we really need to do this Christmas is to see what impact does the coming of Jesus in the flesh have on our lives. To put the question another way, “Do we really need God?” In a society that is increasingly called “post-Christian,” there seems to be a prevailing attitude at Christmas time that the thought of God and His works do not really fit into our pattern of life. “In a culture that no longer perpetuates Christian ways of living we seem to find ourselves contentedly without God and without the need of gestures of love and sacrifice. The shepherds, the angels, the birth of Jesus may all be true, and nice for children to believe in such things, but it is not really a determining event in our lives or in history. There is an unfortunate parallel in countries between their level of material well-being and the impact of Christianity on their lives and actions: the greater the prosperity, the less the belief” (O’Higgins, “Christmas,” Sacerdos: Homily Resources for Priests, December 25, 2004). Is Karl Marx correct when he said that Christianity is a mere opium for the poor? Too many people today seem to live a life more in agreement with Marx instead of one in Christ Jesus the Lord.
If we silence the noise of the material world, we will find a deeper longing, a deeper desire. All of us experience a constant need for something more. Too often we think that material things will satisfy this deep longing for something more, but the satisfaction from material things quickly fades. If we continue to look for satisfaction in material things, even other human beings, we will only become more dissatisfied, intolerant and alone. We long for the infinite, so finite material things cannot satisfy. This deep longing is what Msgr. Luigi Giussani calls the “Religious Sense.” It is our longing for God, who alone is infinite love, infinite truth, infinite beauty, and infinite justice. To satisfy our deepest yearning we must live in God.
One way for us to live in God is to become more aware of God’s actions in our lives. St. Francis DeSales urged his spiritual directees to first become aware of how good the Good God is in their lives. Do we do this? Do we literally count our blesses? Or are we too busy keeping up with the Jones? To busy thinking about the things we do not have?
God granted me an insight this week as I was praying. Since Christmas was coming, I was thinking about the “C & E Catholics” — you know whom I mean; those Catholics who come to Mass only for Christmas and Easter. I have no doubt that there are many such people praying with us right now. But not only them, for there are many who “don’t come to Mass” regularly. It truly saddens me, and as I was lifting this to God, the Holy Spirit whispered this in my ear. The Mass is also called the Eucharist, and the word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek word meaning “thanksgiving.” I fear that those who do not attend Mass regularly are not aware of just how much love God is showing them in their lives. Quite literally every beat of our heart, every breath we take is a gift from God. How can we not give Him thanks and praise?
So as we make our list of all the people we need to send thank yous to because they gave us a Christmas present, be sure to put God first on that list. Take some time to contemplate the Babe of Bethlehem, humbly lying in a manger. Let our hearts swell with tears of gratitude as we meditate of the great love of Jesus who has redeemed us, and has called us to be sons and daughters of God. The angels proclamation to the shepherds should continue to fill us with great joy: “I proclaim to you good news of great joy: today a Savior is born for us, Christ the Lord!”
