Christmas Day -2022
Christmas 2022 “The World has a Sign”
Why did a Jesus come as a babe in a manger? Aren’t there other ways that God could have sent the Gospel message to humanity?
We hear about God dispatching angels as messengers in the Gospels. God sends an angel to Zachariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist. The Lord sends the Angel Gabriel to Mary to announce Jesus’ coming. In the Gospel of Matthew, an angel is sent to St. Joseph in a dream. And then a host of angels were sent to the shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem.
If we go back into the Old Testament, God reveals himself in other ways. We remember Moses ran with the Israelites from the Pharoah when they were fleeing slavery in Egypt. A pillar of fire came down to block the path of the oncoming Egyptian army as the Israelites went into the midst of the Red Sea. We remember also how God sent the prophets Elijah and Elisha and how they multiplied food to feed the hungry. We remember how they called down fire from the heavens to consume a sacrifice that had been meant for a pagan God. We remember how King David defeated the mighty Goliath. He then united the tribes of Israel as he won military victory after military victory. God could have interceded in history in so many other ways.
But it says in the Gospel of Luke that the angel said to the shepherds, “This shall be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” Jesus came as a helpless infant. At no stage of our lives are we weaker than when we are first born, except perhaps when we are on our death bed. An infant cannot feed itself. A baby cannot keep warm by itself. If left naked it will die of exposure. Infants can’t even sit up. No, they must be held in the arms of a caring adult. Babies must even be burped after they eat. We cannot think of any creature any more helpless. Yet, this is how Jesus came to the world, not in power, but in weakness. God came to the world as an infant.
Religions are made up of signs and symbols. In Catholicism sacraments consist of signs. For those who only recognize the surface of reality signs means nothing. For a believer a sign points to a meaning that lies beyond what is seen. Only humans have the capability to comprehend a sign. Water is a sign for example. Water speaks of life. We can’t live without it. We need it to hydrate our body. We need it to cleanse ourselves lest we die of infection. Oil is a sign. We wipe it on our bodies. We then are soothed and healed. If an infant is a sign what does the infant Jesus represent?
Cardinal Joseph Bernadin wrote a reflection on Christmas years ago. He tried to give his explanation for why God came as a baby. His theory was that the message to humanity that was proclaimed by the infant Jesus was, “I trust you.” God placed his infant son in the arms of humans and said, “Take care of him.” Love him as I love you. Mary and Joseph fulfilled that responsibility. But we aren’t simply to admire what they did. We are to do the same.
Sometimes we fail miserably. We can think of the many places where people are suffering today. While we complain about the weather this Christmas, the people of Ukraine pray in the dark. The Ukrainians try to keep warm without fuel in this harsh winter because the Russian army has destroyed utilities attempting to break their will. Despots still oppress innocent people today.
But virtuous humans far outnumber hateful ones. We need only remember the Polish people who have taken in a million Ukrainian refugees this year. We remember chef Levgen Klopotenko who is world famous for his borsch and who provided over a thousand free meals a day in Lviv in the first weeks of the invasion. He said in defiance “If we have the opportunity to eat borsch, we are alive.” Chef Jose Andres brought his World Central Kitchen to Ukraine and has served 180 million meals. Dr. David Nott, a Welsh surgeon has traveled multiple times to Ukraine to train local doctors how to treat war wounds. Julia Payevska, a medic, treated wounded civilians, day and night in Mariupol. She also treated an enemy soldier. Her act of charity led Russian troops to release her after her capture. Yes, there are people like Jesus.
A story is told of Jesus ascending into heaven at the end his mission on earth. When he got there, he was met by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel said, “You are back. Is your mission on earth complete?” Jesus said, “No, it’s not.” Gabriel said, “Well, shouldn’t you have stayed until everyone was converted?” “No,” Jesus said, “The Apostles will take care of the rest.” Gabriel said, “You can’t trust them. They’re weak. I don’t believe they can do it.” Jesus said, “My mission on earth was to show humanity that I trust them and to teach human beings that they can trust me. All they need to do is love each other as I loved them. I taught that lesson, and I have faith that all will be well.”
Reflection Questions:
1. Why did God come to earth as an infant? Was it foolishness?
2. What have I done this year to help Jesus’ mission? Can I do something more?
Dear Parishioners,
On this Feast of the solemnity of Mary I wish you a happy New Year. 2023 promises to be another eventful year at Sacred Heart. We have many challenges that we face as well as many blessings that are coming our way.
We realize as we begin the new year that our society is becoming less religious. Soon, we are told, most of our country will be non-Christian. This is disturbing news. But we also know that religious decline and revival has happened any number of times in world history and in the history of our country. If we persevere, we will succeed in our mission of evangelizing others.
A lack of faith in God does not lead to more joyful population. What results is despair. Despair comes when we don’t have anything to hope for beyond what we see and hopelessness comes with lack of purpose. We remember as the New Year begins that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy and peace. The Holy Spirit continues to move in the world. God has not forsaken us.
In 2023, we ask Mary to pray for our world. She is a most powerful intercessor. For that reason, the Church turns to her at the beginning of the New Year. She is our mother. She will never desert us.
May she protect us all.
Fr. Mark