My dear brothers and sisters, the Lord give you peace.
And Merry Christmas to you all.
“For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son into the world, not so that the world would be condemned, but so that through His Son the world may be saved” (Jn 3:16–17).
My brothers and sisters, in today’s readings we have a profound reminder of how the generous love of God, our Savior, has appeared in time, in concrete reality and historical certainty, and most definitely and most surely in our own personal lives.
In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah, we hear the words at the beginning of this reading: “See, the Lord proclaims to the ends of the earth” (Is 62:11). In other words, this gift of salvation that is born unto us on this day was meant for all people, to the ends of the earth, and not just to the territory of the Holy Land of Israel, of a specific people. It was ushered in through them.
So we have been trying to make this point throughout this week: that in God’s unfolding plan, from a chosen people, He wished to save the entire world through their opportunity to be the privileged recipients of the first dawning of this salvation two thousand years ago, to receive their Messiah, their long-awaited Savior, so as to be able eventually, according to His plan, to extend Him to everyone else in the world, as the apostles themselves did, eventually and gradually, when they were commissioned by the Lord to go out “to the ends of the earth and proclaim the Good News and baptize all nations” (cf. Mt 28:19).
So, my brothers and sisters, the prophet Isaiah goes on to say: “Say to daughter Zion, ‘Your Savior comes’” (Is 62:11). So initially, two thousand years ago, He came to them, specific people, of course, with the intention and knowing that He would be extended to the entire world. Why? Because He is a King—the King of Heaven and the King of the universe. He is not just the king of a particular nation. No, He is now the King of the new People of God, which encompasses both Jew and Gentile alike (cf. Gal 3:28).
So we need to have that clear in our minds, especially today, when there is all this talk about Israel and how we need to be faithful to Israel, to Benjamin Netanyahu and to that political system. We have to be careful. The Israel of the Bible shifts from what it was in the Old Testament to what it now is in the New Testament, where you and I—those who have accepted Christ, whether we are Jew or Greek, Italian, Canadian, American—all of us who have decided to follow Jesus, to be baptized, to live His words, and to draw sustenance from the sacraments that He has left us, together walk in faith. All of us are now the People of God, the new Israel (cf. Rom 9:24–26).
So please do not confuse that with the modern-day political system of Israel. Now, are there people in Israel today, in that territory, in that Middle East part of the world, who believe in Christ? Of course there are. And they too are part of the new Israel, the new People of God, which encompasses the entire world, thanks to this birth two thousand years ago of God in our midst—Emmanuel, “God with us” (Mt 1:23). And we cannot forget that most crucial addition to the meaning of the name Emmanuel: God with us, not just with me—God with us together. We make this journey together, and what a beautiful thing it is.
And the reading goes on. The prophet says: “They shall be called the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord” (Is 62:12). This is all of us, all of us who pertain to the new Israel of God. “They shall be called the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And you shall be called ‘Frequented,’ a city not forsaken” (Is 62:12).
This is what we often refer to when we speak about frequenting the sacraments—going frequently to confession, fulfilling the Sunday obligation, where every Sunday we join together to celebrate God’s presence among us. “You shall be called Frequented, a city not forsaken.” For we are all drawn to the heart of the Mother that is our Church.
And so, in the responsorial psalm we hear: “A light will shine on us this day: the Lord is born for us” (Ps 97:1; cf. Is 9:1). And how very truly do we need God’s light in today’s world to illuminate the path through the darknesses that surround us. All these crisis situations are born of one thing and one thing alone: the distancing of men from God. When we distance ourselves from the plan and the Spirit of God, what results is all the confusion, all the wars, all the moral depravity that we see around us, because we disconnect ourselves from the source of all goodness. As Jesus says, “God alone is good” (cf. Mk 10:18). When we disconnect ourselves from that power source of goodness, what we see around us in the world today is the result.
We go on to the second reading, Saint Paul’s Letter to Titus, where he says: “When the kindness and generous love of God our Savior appeared” (Ti 3:4). We can ask: is the kindness and generous love of God not always with us? Of course it is. But it appeared in a most beautiful and manifest way at the birth of our Savior. Kindness, because we did not deserve it. Generous, because this is the Lord God of hosts who comes to us bearing His gifts.
It is true: the wise men will later bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh (cf. Mt 2:11). But He has brought us His very Self—not just a blessing, not just a grace, but His own Being. “Here I am. I give Myself to you.”
Later on in that reading to Titus, we hear that “through Jesus Christ our Savior, the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon us richly, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life” (Ti 3:6–7). “He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Ti 3:5). Saint Paul here is referencing our baptism, even as infants. For Jesus said: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5).
And so we see that our baptism is so intimately connected to the birth of Christ, to the Incarnation, for without it our baptism would never be possible. It would never have come to us.
And so, my brothers and sisters, we conclude with the Gospel from Saint Luke, who begins our reading today by recording how “when the angels went away from them to heaven” (Lk 2:15). Right there, we already see such a contrast with modern philosophies that try to reduce heaven to a mere idea or state. Saint Luke is very clear: there were angels, and they went away to heaven, to a place from where they came. Heaven—that place prepared for us from the foundation of the world (cf. Mt 25:34), where we will be with God, our Most Holy Mother, the Queen of Heaven, and all the angels and saints forever.
And so, my dear friends, we close with this. When the shepherds went and saw Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger, “all who heard it were amazed” (Lk 2:18). “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Lk 2:19).
Mary had already experienced so many mysteries and miracles—her Immaculate Conception, the virginal conception of Jesus—yet she still marvels at the way God allows salvation to unfold. So too, my brothers and sisters, if we reflect on our own lives, we will see how God has intervened again and again.
Much like the apostles who only later remembered Jesus saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19), and much like Saint Francis who only later understood what it meant to rebuild the Church, so too we understand God’s work often in retrospect.
This Christmas, therefore, let us reflect on our past graces. Let us see how God has allowed our story to unfold. And let us never take God’s greatest gift—the gift of Himself—for granted.
Everything that happens on this day, two thousand years ago, can be summed up in one word: love.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Merry Christmas, and God love you.
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