CHRISTMAS IS A CELEBRATION OF GOD'S LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS

 

Homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Year C

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Readings: Isaiah 52:7-10 Hebrews 1:1-6 John 1:1-18

 

Christmas means different things to different people. While for some, Christmas is a time of eating and drinking, to others, the season of Christmas is an opportunity to spend time with family and friends and to exchange presents. Indeed, celebrating Christmas includes all of the things we have mentioned but it should not be reduced nor limited to them. The frenzies that go with Christmas all have their place, but the highest place and priority must be given to Christ who is at the center of Christmas and is also the very reason for Christmas. In our age when many Christians are going away from the true meaning of Christmas, our homily for this Christmas wants to redirect our thoughts to the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is not a secular or commercial celebration. It is a religious and faith-filled celebration commemorating the birth of Jesus, the Prince of peace and the savior of the world. Christmas is a season of celebration of God’s unfathomable and merciful love and faithfulness towards the fallen humanity. It is a celebration of the love that the Father has poured out on us when he sent to us his only-begotten Son; that Word who was with God in the beginning and who is himself God but who later became flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was born like man (John 3:16; John 1:1-14). The Father sent his Son to identify with us in our weakness. For our sake and out of his love for mankind, God became man.

In the first letter of St. John, we find two simple but profound statements about God. The first is that God is light (1 John 1:5) and the second is that God is love (1 John 4:8). There is no other time that these two statements become evidently manifest than during the period of Christmas. It was with the birth of Jesus Christ that the light of God’s love shone among us in a wonderful way; that light in whom there is no darkness. In Jesus, the Father has made visible to us his hidden face and bridged the gap which was created when our first parent disobeyed God at the Garden of Eden. As St. Augustine says, we would have suffered eternal death had Jesus not been born in time neither would we have been freed from sinful flesh had he not taken on himself, the likeness of sinful flesh.

In Jesus, the Father has come to seek us out. That is why Christmas is also a time to remind us of God’s faithfulness. God is always faithful to his promises. It might take time for the promises of God to come to fulfillment but it will surely come. No matter where we are in life, no matter in what condition we find ourselves, no matter how far we might stray, or how unfaithful we are, God, the supreme love, will pursue us in love. The love that God has for us is a love that never stops shining, a love that is faithful.

The message of Christmas therefore is that we are never alone. God loves us and he is ready to extra length to save us. Let our celebration of this year’s Christmas be more than just a family gathering over meals, or being involved in Christmas frenzy, or taking holidays from work or partying. May the spirit of Christmas, that is, the great love of God for us be kept alive in our hearts, and may we share the same love to everyone we meet during this Christmas. Let us remember that the best Christmas is the one celebrated by developing intimacy with Jesus who is both light and love.