“A holy day has dawned upon us. Come you
nations and adore the Lord. Today a great light has come upon the
earth.” This is the Gospel Acclamation for Christmas.
The night is past and a new day has dawned. Christmas is a
celebration of cosmic hope because, on that day, we celebrate the birth of
Christ, the Savior of the human race.
When Mary gave birth to Jesus, she
brought forth the Light of the Nations, Who was to dispel the darkness
brought about by the sin of Adam and Eve.
In the shadows and the silence
of that holy night, a great and inextinguishable light shone forth for
all to see, giving rise to an inexpressible joy that has been touched
with glory.
The Child sleeping in the manger is the Word made flesh, the
long awaited hope of the world.
The story began when “the earth
was formless and desolate and when the depths were cloaked in darkness”
(Gen.1:2). In the middle of the night, while peaceful silence wrapped
all things and the shepherds of Israel were keeping watch over the flock
entrusted to them, the Word of God leaped down from heaven.
Christmas is
the day on which the great light shines forth, expelling the darkness of
sin and death. The creator and sustainer of the world became a man in
order to fill fallen humanity with the grandeur of His divinity.
On that first Christmas, a great light had come upon the earth. The light is Christ. He
had come to us as the Prince of Peace and as the Lord of Lords.
Christ comes still. He comes to offer himself to all people as the sure hope for salvation.
He
is the Word that issued forth from the Heart of the Father, through whom
all things were made and in whom all things continue in existence.
What
was once formless and void, confusion and emptiness has become a new
creation in Christ.
In the Light of Christ, all creation proclaims the
grandeur of God, and night unto night makes known the Good News of
salvation.
We are the people who have walked in darkness and who
have been overwhelmed by the shadow of death and gloom (Cf. Is. 9:2).
Wherever the birth of the Word made Flesh is announced, light shines
forth because a holy day has dawned upon us.
We have reason to celebrate
because the Light of the Nations has come into the world. The
child born to us is the fulfillment of all the prophecies of old.
He is the long awaited consolation of Israel and the Savior of mankind.
We gather to adore Him who is called Wonderful Counselor.
Our
hearts overflow in song because the Eternal Word of the Father has taken
flesh of the Virgin Mary and has made the love of the Almighty Father
tangible. The song begun that silent night has echoed throughout the
universe. All creation declares the wonders God has done.
We
have heard the Good News announcing the Birth in the Flesh of the
Eternal Word. God has done marvelous things. We celebrate the
birth of the Virgin Mary’s Son Who is also the Son of the Father and the
Bearer of the Holy Spirit. Charles Wesley penned these words:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate deity! Pleased as Man with man to appear: Jesus, our Emmanuel here.
In times past, God spoke to his ancient people in various and sundry
ways. Jesus, Whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, is the culmination of God´s
revelation to the world. His humble birth in Bethlehem was heralded by
choirs of angels announcing peace to the world.
The child concealed in a
stone-cold cave is the light for the peoples, a splendor that calls the world into
the newness of day. In the Child of Bethlehem we see the power, wisdom
and grandeur of God.
In the innocence of this Child we see the
re-creation of the human race. Reworking the clay, the One without Whom
nothing was made, left His mark on each earthen vessel and once again
affirmed us in His image and likeness.
Gazing into the Face of God’s Son
we see the true Light that dispels the darkness of sin and death. He
walked among us so that we might walk with Him along the path that leads
to our heavenly home.
Words fail us. How can we ever be
thankful enough that God has, in so many ways and with such fidelity to
His Word, repeatedly spoken to us concerning our salvation? Not only
that, but, having sent prophet after prophet, He chose to enter into our
human nature so as to cleanse us from our sins. Truly, a holy day has
dawned upon us!
In the town of Bethlehem, the Virgin Mary gave
birth to the Only-begotten Son of God. By taking to Himself our human
nature, the Eternal Word has become the image of the invisible God (Cf.
Col. 1:15).
Let us adore the Master of the Universe and the Creator of
all that exists. Let us kneel in reverent silence before the manger and
acknowledge our Lord and God.
Each of the Christmas Gospels make
it clear that the birth of Christ was the result of God’s merciful plan.
The passage from John’s Prologue makes it clear that the re-creation of
the world was God’s intention from the first moment of Creation.
Thanks
to the Gospel accounts of stars, angelic choir and exotic visitors, we
can see the glory of the Father’s only Son with the eyes of faith.
Through Jesus, we have come to know the love and goodness of God. We
have come to know the forgiveness and mercy of God who has never
forgotten his people.
“A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, you
nations, and adore the Lord. Today a great light has come upon the
earth”.
On Christmas we venerate the immensity of God’s love revealed in a tiny
baby. We celebrate the day God made Himself small so He could enlarge
our hearts. Born of the ever-virgin Mary, He became a child to attract
us with love and to touch our hearts with His humble goodness.
We
hear the Good News of Salvation proclaimed by an infant, one who is
unable to speak.
The darkness has been dispelled by the fire of divine
love that burns in the heart of the Christ child that is wrapped in
swaddling clothes and sleeps in a manger.
The promise is affirmed. If we place our burdens in the tiny hands of the new-born Savior,
we will find rest, and rejoicing will be ours.
Let us come to Bethlehem
and adore the Lord who saves us from the darkness of sin and makes us
children of God. “I invite you, then, to pause before the Nativity
scene, for there God's tenderness speaks to us. There we contemplate
divine mercy, made flesh so that we gaze tenderly upon it. Above all, it
wishes to move our hearts” (Pope Francis).
--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO
