Today, the hearts and minds of all Christians are drawn to the humble town of Bethlehem in the Holy Land. Right now, Bethlehem is in there is middle of the armed conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. However, back more than 2,000 years ago, Bethlehem was the place where the long-awaited message was first proclaimed, which we heard last night in the Gospel of Luke: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Those words spoken by the angel in the heavens above Bethlehem are also spoken to us today. We are full of hope and trust as we realize that the Lord has been born for us; that the eternal Word of the Father, the infinite omniscient God, has made his home among us. As John’s Gospel proclaims today: through our Lord Jesus Christ, God became flesh and came to dwell amongst us (John 1:14). This Good News of Christ’s birth changed the course of history.
The Gospel of Luke recounts the birth of Christ through the story of the humble manger in Bethlehem, of the Angels singing and proclaiming the Goods News to the shepherds out watching their flock that night. Today, in the beginning of John’s Gospel, Christ’s birth is described in a more theological way, of Jesus as the Word of God who existed from the very beginning, of Jesus as a light shining in the darkness of the world, of John the Baptist preparing a path for Jesus’ message and ministry.
Today, the message of Christ’s birth is announced to the world. But that message is not just for today, Christmas morning. This message is to be proclaimed by all of us who are Christ’s disciples through our words and actions each day. In proclaiming Christ’s news to the world, I think of Mother Teresa telling us not to worry about accomplishing great things, but in the little things we do each day, do those things with the great love of God. We are not to think about what our faith can do for us, but rather, we can do for others out of the joy of our faith. Yesterday at the 5:00 pm Christmas Eve Mass, the children of the parish sang two songs at the end of Mass as they participated in our Christmas Mass celebration. The joy and enthusiasm in which children approach the birth of Jesus and the Christmas story is how we are called to approach our faith each day.
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