Introduction: May the Incarnation of the Son of GOD continue to empower your life with Love, Light, Life, and purpose.
Do you feel loved at this special time of year? Are you receiving signs of love from those whom you love? GOD has desired for you to know of the divine love. Yet, as humans, it is sometimes hard to know what love is. We need visible, tangible signs of love. It is for that very reason that GOD has taken on human flesh and lived among us in the person of Jesus Christ – true GOD and true human. Jesus has shared our human life so that we might accept the greatest gift of all – a share in the divine life of GOD, not just now, but for all eternity. As we prepare to exchange gifts with those whom we love, remember that the gifts themselves are only reminders of the love that exists between us and the love that GOD has for each of us.
The First Reading speaks about a Son given to us Who brings light to those in darkness, and joy to those in sorrow. This Child will be given the Reign of GOD and be called by the titles Wonder-Counselor, GOD-Hero, Father-Forever, and Prince of Peace. (This passage is the source of some of the words of a song in Handel’s Messiah.) The Reign that this Son will establish will be marked with justice and peace. St. Paul, in his letter to Titus, reminds us that Jesus is the revelation of GOD’s grace to all people. The glory of GOD has come in and through the Savior of the world. The Gospel is the traditional infancy narrative from Luke. We hear the reason Mary and Joseph end up in Bethlehem – because of their obedience to the Roman census. The familiar image of the Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a feeding trough in a stable is presented to us, along with the announcement to the shepherds of the birth of the Messiah.
First Reading, Isaiah 9:1-7; A Son is given to us
Commentary: This prophecy of Isaiah promises a joyful reversal after the threats of the Assyrian invasion of Jerusalem in 732 BC. The devastating Assyrian armies had plundered the northern kingdom of Israel and seemed certain to repeat this exploit on Judah and Jerusalem in the south. Amazingly, they turned away. At the same time, Isaiah promises a son of the royal line of David, who will bring peace with justice and righteousness. This son is described in exaggerated terms which we Christians see to be fulfilled only in Jesus, the Second David, the true Son of God. He will be Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, each pair of titles having a marvellous, transcendent air. Such promises sustained the hopes of the nation through the grim period of Exile and the succession of foreign rulers that dominated the return from Exile. As the hated Roman occupation became more burdensome, the hopes of delivery through this promised heir of David became more and more vivid in Israel, as we see from the Jewish literature of the years immediately preceding the birth of Jesus. It is in terms of the heir to David and Son of God that Mary received the message of the angel at the Annunciation.
Responsorial Psalm 96:1-3,11-13; Today a saviour has been born to us: he is Christ the Lord.
Psalm 96 calls for joyful worship of God, urging all creation to sing and declare His glory. It highlights the importance of sharing His wonders with the nations and assures believers of His righteous judgment over the earth.
Second Reading, Titus 2:11-14; God's grace has been revealed to the whole human race
Commentary: The author of the letter sees God primarily as the Saviour, who wishes all people to be saved through Christ, also our Saviour. In the Old Testament God is often called the Saviour of his people, but in the letters to Timothy and Titus, this title is with equal frequency transferred to Jesus our Saviour, perhaps as a divine title. This reading is chosen to celebrate Christmas because it speaks twice of the appearance or manifestation (the same word in Greek) of our Saviour, and the Church Fathers often consider the moment of this Appearing at the Incarnation rather than the Resurrection to be the moment of salvation. It is celebrated as the moment when God became man so that man might be raised to the divine. Accordingly, the Eastern Church celebrates rather the Epiphany (or Appearing) of the Lord. However, the letter stresses that we must respond to this appearance of the grace of God by preparing for the final appearance. Thus the classic formulation speaks of the threefold coming of Christ: in history (at Bethlehem), in mystery (coming into our hearts), and in majesty (at the final coming in glory).
Gospel, Luke 2:1-14; 'In the town of David a saviour has been born to you'
Commentary: Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus stresses especially the poverty of the family: Christ comes to the poor and is greeted by the poor. Mary and Joseph are displaced persons and can find no decent place for the baby to be born. There is no space in the living quarters, and he has to be put in a feeding trough among the animals. He is greeted not by the rich presents of the magnificent wise men from the East, but by impoverished hired shepherds, guarding flocks in the winter night. He is born to be the patron of the homeless and displaced persons.
But Jesus is also the fulfillment of the hopes of the Old Testament. The families both of John the Baptist and of Jesus are eminently faithful to the prescriptions of the Law, waiting for the salvation promised to Israel. In the Temple, Jesus will be greeted by Simeon and Anna, the representatives of fidelity to the Old Law. The birth of Jesus at Bethlehem shows that he is born as the heir to the promises to David, that God would build David a house of everlasting sovereignty, whose king would be the son of God and would call God his Father.
Reflection: Have you read the news today - the "good news" of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and son of Mary who was born for us and for our salvation. The word gospel literally means good news! Jesus' birth in Bethlehem fulfilled the prophecy that the Messiah would descend from David and be born in David's city, Bethlehem (Isaiah 9:6-7, 11:1-2; Micah 5:2-4).
The first to hear the good news of the savior's birth was not the rulers and religious leaders of Israel who were robbed of riches and power. The angels first came to those who were humble and ready to receive the newborn king who was born in poverty and was now lying in a manger made for animals. Just as God had chosen and anointed David, a lowly shepherd of Bethlehem to become the shepherd king of Israel, so Jesus, likewise chose the path of humility and lowliness in coming to Israel as the good shepherd king who would lay down his life for their sake and salvation. After the angels had sung their hymn of glory in the presence of the shepherds, the shepherds made haste to adore the newborn king and sing their hymn of glory as well.
Many of the early church fathers have written hymns and homilies in praise of the Incarnation. John the Monk, an 8th-century writer, in his Hymn of the Nativity, sings of the great exchange in the mystery and wonder of the Incarnation - God becoming man in order to bring man to heaven:
Heaven and earth are united today, for Christ is born! Today God has come upon earth, and humankind has gone up to heaven. Today, for the sake of humankind, the invisible one is seen in the flesh. Therefore let us glorify him and cry aloud: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace bestowed by your coming, Savior: glory to you! Today in Bethlehem, I hear the angels: Glory to God in the highest! Glory to him whose good pleasure it was that there be peace on earth! The Virgin is now more spacious than the heavens. Light has shone on those in darkness, exalting the lowly who sing like the angels: Glory to God in the highest! Beholding him [Adam] who was in God's image and likeness fallen through transgression, Jesus bowed the heavens and came down, without change taking up his dwelling in a virgin womb, that he might refashion Adam fallen in corruption, and crying out: glory to your epiphany, my Savior and my God! [Stichera (hymn) of the Nativity of the Lord]
Why was it necessary for the Word of God to become flesh? We needed a savior who could reconcile us with God. Throughout the ages, Christians have professed the ancient Nicene Creed: "He became man for our sake and for the sake of our salvation." The eternal Word became flesh for us so he could offer his life as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world through the shedding of his blood on the cross. The Word became flesh to show us the infinite love and tender mercy of God for us sinners.
In the feast of Christmas, we celebrate present realities - Jesus Christ our redeemer who reigns in heaven and who also lives and reigns in our hearts through the gift and working of the Holy Spirit. And we commemorate past events - the birth of the newborn Messiah King and his manifestation to Israel and to the gentile nations. We thank and bless God for how he has saved us from the power of sin and the curse of death and destruction by sending his son to ransom us and give us pardon and abundant life through the gift and working of the Holy Spirit. Today we celebrate the birthday of our King and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
God wants to fill our hearts anew with joy and gratitude for the greatest gift he could possibly give us - his beloved Son Jesus. What can we give thanks for in this great feast of the Incarnation? We can praise and thank God our Father for the fact that the Son of God freely and joyfully assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. Jesus came to release the captives from slavery to sin and to open the gates of paradise once again. This day the Holy Spirit invites us to make haste - as the shepherds of Bethlehem did - to adore Jesus our King and Messiah. The Lord Jesus Christ is our eternal good shepherd who guides and cares for us unceasingly and who gives us abundant everlasting life and union with the triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
This day the whole community of heaven joins with all believers of goodwill on earth in a jubilant song of praise for the good news proclaimed by the angels on Christmas Eve: Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people, for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11).
The joy of Christmas is not for a day or a season. It is an eternal joy, a joy that no one can take from us because it is the joy of Jesus Christ himself made present in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us (see Romans 5:2-5). The Lord gives us a supernatural joy which no pain nor sorrow can diminish, and which neither life nor death can take away. Do you know the joy of your salvation in Jesus Christ?
Lord our God, your glory broke on the world with the birth of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As we celebrate his first coming, give us a foretaste of the joy that you will grant us when the fullness of his glory has filled the earth.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The shepherds are the first proclaimers of the Gospel, by Bede the Venerable, 672-735 A.D.
"The shepherds did not keep silent about the hidden mysteries that they had come to know by divine influence. They told whomever they could. Spiritual shepherds in the church are appointed especially for this, that they may proclaim the mysteries of the Word of God and that they may show to their listeners that the marvels which they have learned in the Scriptures are to be marveled at." (excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 1.7)
Footprints: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him Who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation.” —Isaiah 52:7
The parents can spend a lot of time gazing at their babies. We enjoy how our infant’s feet and toes curl up and expand. We count the number of toes and fingers. Each little movement brings fresh delight. Before we know it, we’ve spent a half-hour contemplating our baby. We can spend hours looking at our baby and never tire of it because we love it so much.
Jesus took on flesh and became a Baby Boy (Jn 1:14). Now, we can relate to Him in a way we couldn’t previously. As parents delight in admiring each aspect of their newborn, we can reflect on the many aspects of the incarnate Infant, Jesus.
This Christmas season, as you contemplate the Baby Jesus, reflect especially upon Jesus’ beautiful feet (Is 52:7). He traveled dusty roads to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God (Mt 10:14). He let His feet be washed by the penitent woman (Lk 7:44-45) so we would know that love overcomes a multitude of sins (1 Pt 4:8). He allowed His feet to be pierced and nailed to a cross and bleed for our salvation. His feet pushed painfully upon the nails so He could breathe enough to speak His last words on the cross.
Choose the better portion this Christmas (Lk 10:42). Sit at the beautiful feet of Jesus and listen to His words (Lk 10:39).
Prayer: Jesus, give me such a love for You that I never tire of meditating on You. Thank You for coming to earth to save us all. “Any who did accept Him He empowered to become children of God.” —Jn 1:12. “Glory to God in high heaven, peace on earth to those on whom His favor rests” (Lk 2:14).
The personal action for today: As I celebrate Christmas, how do I bring my
appreciation of the Incarnation of Word/Light/Life (Logos/Phos/Zoe) to others?
Am I giving (and receiving) gifts in the name of the Lord Jesus? Can people
experience the Love (Agape) and Light (Phos) of Jesus as I exchange presents
and greet people on this holy day and during this holy season? How can I extend
a greeting for Blessed Holy-days beyond Christmas and into the whole year?
