Here
in church we take several days to read about the birth of Christ, though the
gospels are somewhat sparse. Sunday, we heard the list of Christ’s ancestry: 42
generations of famous Biblical personages. Christmas eve we heard the story of
the conception of Christ by Mary through the Holy Spirit: “The virgin will give
birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Mary’s
husband, Joseph, after a visionary dream protected and cared for her and the unborn
child, and Mary made a significant visitation to her cousin Elizabeth, the
mother of John the Prophet and Forerunner of Christ.
Later we followed the Holy Family from
Nazareth to Bethlehem for the Roman census. After his birth they wrapped the
boy in swaddling clothes, laid him in a manger, and named him Jesus. Other
sources mention the animals warming the stable. We heard again about the shepherds
in nearby fields surrounded by an angelic choir, like the northern lights, that
sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth through God’s
favor.” They joined the crèche, trailing in some sheep and lambs, I’m sure. And
so it says Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Br.
Peter chanted the Gospel passage about the Magi’s gifts of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh to the child—gifts fit for a king or priest and healer. And we will later
hear about the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt and the murder of young children
by Herod.
It was said somewhere “At the moment when history is
blackest, and in the least expected and obvious place, the Son of God is
born…" At the very solstice moment when the days are the shortest—and
darkness seems to have conquered light—the sun passes its lowest point. Something
new is born. The days grow longer, and the ultimate conquest over winter is
sure. This astronomical process is seen as a parable of the Incarnation. The
title “never-setting Sun of Righteousness,” with its global and eternal
perspective, (from the book of Malachi 4:2) was anciently applied to Christ pouring
out his radiance through human flesh and enlightening our souls and bodies.
The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel,
the Gospel of John, takes up this theme, too: 3:
"All things were made by him." 4: "He is the light of all people,"
5: "…the true light that enlightens everyone." 12: "To all who
received him he gave power to become children of God." 14: “The word was
made flesh and lived among us.”
On December 25 in the Year of
our Lord 386, the newly ordained preacher, John Chrysostom, formally introduced
the celebration of Christmas into Christian Antioch in Syria. Many were
skeptical then about separating it from the feast of the Baptism of Christ on
Theophany, though for us now in fact Theophany has become the twelfth day of
Christmas. Christmas was first popular in the West, where the ancient records
were kept. The golden-mouthed saint said it had been observed there from the
earliest times. The Romans were uniquely qualified to know the precise date of the
nativity, and it was they “who have now transmitted reliable knowledge of it to
us.”
Because of this day, this
holy feast, he explained to the crowds in the basilica there,
the ancient slavery is ended,
evil confounded, demons scattered,
death is broken,
paradise is unlocked,
the curse is taken away,
sin is blotted out,
error is driven out,
truth has been brought back,
talk of kindliness abounds,
a heavenly way of life has been in-planted on earth.
Today’s three readings give us similar
reasons for our Christmas joy. [Jer. 23:3-8]: Jeremiah said…No one shall be
lost. [Gal. 4:4-7]: Paul wrote: We are all God’s people and heirs of God’s
spirit. [Mt 11:28-29]: And just as with the gospel magi, we are meant to find
what we are seeking.
So, December 25th and the dark
solstice have been transmuted into a moment of joyful singing and liturgy in
heaven and on earth,
A moment not blind to sorrow, death
and deceit, but, still,
It is a moment to find some inner peace
and celebrate the incarnate and cosmic Christ with music in our hearts. Let’s
take the moment to enjoy it.
