CHRISTMAS DAY, YR C
Isaiah 9:2-7; Ps 96;
Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
THE PEOPLE THAT WALKED IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT
All the preparations for the last four weeks come to this day; Christmas day. Christmas is the celebration of God’s love for humanity and a celebration of joy. Today we celebrate when God became of us.
For obvious reasons the celebration of Christmas this year, as it was last year, seems to be with mixed feeling. Covid has affected our lives in such a way that we can’t wait to return to life without covid. Many of us have lost friends and loved ones. Others have lost jobs but the pandemic does not look like going anytime soon. It’s such a gloomy and dark era. What message does the celebration of Christmas have for us today.
Our first reading from Isaiah 9:2-7, presents us with a similar situation of the people of Israel. When we read in Isaiah 8:22 “And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness”. This situation of the people of God can be said to describe our situation today also as we struggle with the pandemic. But in this context the first sentence of the word of God for us is “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined” (Is 9:2)
The birth of Jesus Christ sheds light upon the darkness of the world. May the birth of Jesus dispel the darkness of the devastation of covid. The light of Christ comes in to our gloomy world and also into our gloomy hearts. The greatest darkness is the darkness of our hearts. Jesus, the light of God comes to replace the gloom and darkness in our hearts. When we allow our hearts to be filled with the light of Christ then we can adequately confront the darkness of our world. May the light of Christ fill and shine forth in our hearts.
Another message we glean from the first reading is that “You have multiplied the nation” (Is 9:3). God had promised to make Abraham the father of many nations. That through Abraham all people will come to know God almighty. The birth of Jesus sets the fulfilment of this promise in motion. After teaching and performing miracles in the Jewish areas, Jesus told his disciples “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). He comes for all people, especially those who have been pushed to the fringes and forgotten, those who have been categorised as “persona non grata”. He comes to bring all into the love of God and makes us each one of us “persona grata” in the presence of God. In Jesus we have all become children of God.
Christmas is a time for us also to go and search out those who need someone to listen to them and to make them feel appreciated. It doesn’t take much. It may just be a phone call to someone you have not heard from in a long while or a lovely hand written note. We must seek out first of all those around us who feel unappreciated.
Another message of Christmas from our reading is joy. Isaiah 9:3 says God has “you have increased its joy”. Christmas brings great joy for the wonder the whole cosmos experienced at God becoming man but more intense at the joy God brings to us. this joy is in two folds;
The first is the joy of the harvest. The joy of harvest refers to the blessing of the provision of physical needs, i.e. abundant provision of food and all that man needs to sustain a decent life. Indeed, God is our providence through Jesus Christ. Paul says, “may God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). Per the birth of Jesus may the Lord grant you every provision you need.
The second is the joy of victory. It is the joy that comes from the defeat of an enemy at war. All those who had oppressed the people will be defeated. In this joy we find also our own increased joy because in Jesus we find victory. Jesus will defeat the enemy of man and indeed he did defeat the devil by his resurrection. The kind of victory Isaiah refers to is that of Midian where the enemy was totally defeated. It is the kind of victory that only God can undertake. May the Lord fight for us in the battles that are beyond us. May he who knows all our daily battles give us victory.
As we celebrate Christmas may the light of Christ shine in your hearts, may it fill you with love for all people and may the Lord grant you the joy that only he can give.
BY Rev. Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
