HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

The Nativity of the Lord (Year C, Day Mass)

Dec 25, 2015

2344

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First Reading

A reading from the Book of Prophet Isaiah (52:7-10)

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, saying to Zion, "Your God is King!" Hark! Yours sentinels raise a cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the Lord restoring Zion. Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of earth will behold the salvation of our God.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6)

(R) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. (R)

The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. (R)

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. (R)

Sing praise to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and melodious song. With trumpets and the sound of the horn sing joyfully before the King, the Lord. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (1:1-6)

Brothers and sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word. When he had accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say: You are my son; this day I have begotten you or again: I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me? And again, when he leads the firstborn into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (1:1-18)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.

But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God. These are they who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, "The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.""From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him.

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

There is a story of a wandering monk. One day he went to a free shelter for the night. It was a small house with just one floor for the homeless to spend the night. There were far too many people there that night, and the room was small, dark and smelly. The monk thought that in the dark they would not know who he was, so he tied a balloon to his ankle and went to sleep. While the monk was sleeping, the man next to him untied the monk's balloon, tied it to his own ankle and went to sleep. When they woke up the monk looked at the man next to him and the balloon and then shook hands with him and said, "Ah, I know who you are. You are the monk, but please, tell me who I am."

I would like to relate this story to an event that took place over two thousand years ago. There is Someone who is higher than any other, both here on earth and in heaven and His name is Yahweh - I AM. He is Strong, Mighty and Powerful. He is the only One in existence. He is El-Shaddi in Hebrew which means He is God Almighty. The Almighty God saw the people living in sin and darkness. He sent prophets and patriarchs to urge the people to turn from their evil way and to turn back to Him instead. But the people failed to heed the words of God's messengers and disobeyed God. In spite of their rebellion God loved them and devised a plan to rescue them. He became a man, of His own accord, and walked on earth. If He had chosen to, He could have come to earth in many other ways. But He chose to be born as the Son and to be born in a stable. He gave His Son the name Jesus which means God saves.

Jesus wandered from place to place. He preached to men and women, young and old, rich and poor. He identified with the poor and outcast. He dined with tax collectors and prostitutes. He touched and healed lepers. He brought sight to the blind and made the deaf hear. He fed the hungry. He comforted the suffering. He forgave sinners. Yes. Jesus wore the heart of compassion, humility, gentleness, kindness, goodness, patience, joy, love and peace. But many were cold to Him, and strangely unfriendly towards Him. They ignored and rejected Him. And, these were His people. However, some people followed Him wherever He went.

A few chose to truly believe in Him, became His disciples and began to imitate him in every way. After His death and resurrection, they began to address themselves as Christians and spread His Gospel. Today we rejoice and celebrate not only the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ but also our faith in Him, which we have inherited from Saints Peter and Paul and other believers. But sad to say, many Christians have lost sight of the truth about Jesus Christ.

What does the birth of Jesus Christ mean to us? To many people Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus or His birthday. For some people, Christmas is just another holiday. Not everyone who greets one another "Merry Christmas" is really thinking of Jesus in anyway. In many places, the legendary Santa Claus gets more attention than Jesus' birth. Many people are completely indifferent to the real reason for the celebration. They cite many reasons why they do not want to celebrate Christmas. Some argue over Jesus' exact date of birth for there is no biblical evidence that December 25 was Jesus' birth date, and the day was apparently chosen in the third century to coincide with the existing pagan winter festival which marked the rebirth of the sun or light after the shortest day or the longest night of the year. Some point out that while the Bible clearly tells us to commemorate Jesus' death it nowhere tells us to celebrate His birth. Some others say that Christmas is tainted by commercialism.

Yes. I do agree to a certain extent that these are acceptable reasons. However, even though it is important to know with reasonable clarity as to why and how Christmas has become commercialized, or why and how the early Christians started to celebrate Christ's birth without any biblical evidence as to the date of his birth or why it is observed on the pagan's winter festival, I feel that the most important thing is that the early Christians were sure of the fact that Jesus had been born, and believed that He was the Son of God, and began to celebrate it on a day they felt appropriate. So I believe that December 25 was not chosen to celebrate the date but the birth, and He is the eternal God who became flesh and blood to redeem us from sin.

Hence, let us remember that antipathy or indifference toward Jesus Christ or the Christian faith is not something new. Mary and Joseph experienced the indifference, unhappiness and contempt as they brought their son Jesus into the world. The funny thing is that despite the increasing unbelief and the growing tide of hostility toward Christianity, nearly two billion people around the world celebrate Christ's birth on December 25, while at least 200 million others celebrate it on January 6/7.

Today we are among those Christians who celebrate "Christ's birth". But how much do we know the person whose birth we celebrate? Like the monk in the story our Lord Jesus probably wants to ask each one of us, "Look! I know who you are - you are my follower, you are a Christian but tell me who am I? Particularly who am I to you? Let us, therefore, take a few moments to seriously reflect who Jesus really is. You don't have to believe what I am saying just because I say it or the church says it. I think each of us personally must take some time to check things out. We must read the scriptures and know what is said about Him and then deepen our faith in Him. Let us not celebrate Christmas like another Christmas but take time to discover who Jesus really is. Let us not walk away from the manger this year without coming to grips with the tiny baby who lies there.

Who is Jesus? Where did He come from? Why was He born? What difference does His coming make to you? Do you just see him as a baby born to Mary and Joseph or see him as what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews makes Him out to be?

Jesus is the Heir of all things. That is, all things belong to God and everyone belongs to God. And that God has given everything and everyone to His Son Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Creator of the universe. Through Jesus God made everything - the universe and everything in the universe.
Jesus is the radiance of God's Glory. He is the magnificent revelation of God himself and a clear image of God.
Jesus is the personification of God's Nature.
Jesus is the sustainer of all things. He is the power behind the whole universe. All things hold together in him and for him and by him.
Jesus is our sin purifier and refiner of our soul.
Jesus is our High Priest seated at God's right hand and intercedes on our behalf.
Jesus is far superior to the angels.

May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together in one body. Always be thankful,Colossians (3:5). Merry Christmas!

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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