We welcome everyone to our Christmas celebration here at the Catholic community of St Jude in the city of Pearl. Christmas is a time of year when many visitors and family members from out of town come to worship with us, to celebrate Christ’s birth. As we welcome all of you to our celebration this evening, we hope you will feel the warmth and hospitality of our community of faith. We are so glad all of you are joining us this evening.
Each Christmas, we hear the story of Jesus’ birth from the Gospel of Luke, so there are no surprises in the story we hear tonight. We are all familiar with Mary and Joseph traveling to the city of Bethlehem due to a census in the Roman empire, in how they were forced to spend the night in a humble stable because there was no room for them in the inn. Jesus, the Son of God made incarnate in the world by being born by the Virgin Mary, came into his earthly existence not in a grand palace or mighty castle, but in the place where animals live. Shepherds and animals were present at his birth, not kings, not the rich and powerful. Jesus was not born in a comfortable bed with fine linens, but instead in a manger, in the food trough where the animals ate, foreshadowing the way that Jesus’ body will become the spiritual food that nourishes us in the Eucharist, as we partake of his body and blood that are transformed from the bread and the wine that we offer to God on his holy altar.
There is a lot being written this time of the year about how we need to rediscover the true meaning of Advent and Christmas, because the Christmas message has been so overtaken by our secular world. If you look at the message of our modern society, Christmas has been transformed into a secular holiday where shopping, presents, and Christmas parties can take the focus away from its religious and spiritual meaning. Christ was born in a humble stable in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago, but how is he born in our hearts today? Is he being born in Black Friday sales and trips to Target, Walmart, and the mall, or is he being born in the way we reach out to others in this holy season and in the way the values of our faith permeate our lives? How exactly are we helping to proclaim Christ’s message in our world? If being a disciple of Christ does not have a real affect on our lives, if we do not reflect the Gospel in the way we live, then I don’t think that Christ’s birth has much a significance at all.
At Christmas, we celebrate Christ as the light of the world. But it is not a light that came to our world only once upon a time so long ago. It is a light that shines tonight here with us in our Church at our Christmas Eve mass, a light that shines for all of eternity. To feel the true meaning of Christmas, we are called to experience that light shining in our lives, to feel the responsibility to bring that light to others.
I would like to close with a prayer that captures the essence of bringing the light of Christ into our lives, of being the light of Christ to the world. Let us pray:
Lord, may we follow your light each day on our journey here on earth.
Let your light shine forth in our thoughts, our deeds, and our words.
Let your light enable your mercy and charity flow within us.
Let our hearts always reflect your love, your peace, and your joy.
Let our lives shine forth in true discipleship to Christ.
Jesus, my Savior, as you are true light, true God, and true man, we ask that you send us as a light into the world, as a messenger of your Gospel.
Let your light illuminate us with your truth.
Both now and every day of our lives.
We ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
AMEN.
No comments:
Post a Comment