Gospel of Luke, chapter 1:45

There are only two days left before Christmas. Monday is Christmas Eve and on Tuesday is the feast itself. We cannot help but feel some excitement and anticipation. Anticipation and joy are the habitual states of those preparing for Christmas, not so much for a single feast, but for the special time when we enter into the full presence of God, a presence we can possess in Christ’s mass here on earth. We are waiting for more than a happy family celebration . We confidently rejoice because what began in Bethlehem on that first Christmas day continues during every mass celebrated on the altar each day. The meaning of Christmas is Christ’s mass for Christ is present in the Eucharist for us as He first became present in flesh and blood in a manger in Bethlehem.

Christmas puts the lie to all the false values of the world and our culture. Jesus was born in an out-of-the-way country village that even the prophet Micah called the least important place in Judea. His mother was a humble village girl. He was the child of a working-class family. Shepherds were the guests at Jesus’ birth in a humble nursery. These Shepherds were the poorest and lowliest of people in Jewish society. The Christmas story is a marvel in simplicity and always appeals to the child, the poet, and the ordinary person. It is a story that transports us back to where we belong-with our God, with each other, and with all mankind. Christmas celebrates the God of all mankind in flesh and blood; becoming a little child, born of the Virgin Mary.

Mary is the model for the rest of us. Her humility did not blind her eyes to the injustices of society. She spoke eloquently about a God who would put down the mighty from their thrones and exalt the lowly. She said that He would send the rich away empty while he carefully fed the hungry. Mary was the first to experience Christ among us. She bore Him in the her womb and was chosen for her exalted role because she surrendered her will to God: “Thy will be done.”

The Christmas story is a story of immense hope; it tells us that God will not abandon His people. He is with us always. He first came to us as a little child of flesh and blood. He is with us always in Holy Communion at mass; in His word, and in all human creatures, great and small, who follow His way.

May you have a blessed Christmas.

Fr. Hugh Duffy