Is Christmas a birthday or memorial celebration?

Homily for the Nativity of the Lord Year B 2014-2015

Introduction

Recently while visiting my god-son’s family, I overheard this conversation between him and his sister.

She said: “Christmas is the birthday of Jesus.”  To which my god-son, who is quite smart, responded: “No.  If Christmas is the birthday of Jesus, why don’t mum and dad give gifts to Jesus, but they give them to us?”

Of course I did not intervene in their little debate, but I was very proud of these kids, who in their simple way are already trying to understand what Christmas really is.  Well beyond his years, my god-son recognizes the complexity of Christmas, something that Christians throughout history have grappled with.

Scripture and Theology

Take the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John); for example; they all tell the story of the birth of Jesus very differently.

·        Mark says nothing about the birth of Jesus but rather begins his gospel with the public ministry of Jesus.  It is as if he is skipping over the minor details and going straight to the teaching of Jesus, to his suffering, death and resurrection – the heart of the Christian message.  We could compare Mark’s gospel to a biography of Abraham Lincoln that focuses just on his political life and says nothing about his birth and childhood.

·        John for his part begins his gospel with a dense theological essay, which we read during the Mass on Christmas Day.  Rather than give us the beautiful stories about the angels, the shepherds, baby Jesus, John tells us the meaning of the whole thing.  He says that God, in his Son, has come into the world and by becoming a human being, has united heaven and earth.  Jesus does this by his word and example, but especially by giving his life on the cross.  We can compare John’s coverage of the birth of Jesus, not to the front page news story, but to the editorial on page 8, that gives a commentary on what Jesus’ birth means.

·        Matthew tells us the story of Jesus’ birth in quite some detail, but he does so with some sadness and foreboding.  For him the birth of Jesus is an introduction to the main story, which is, his death and resurrection.  Matthew hints at this theme when in the Christmas story he writes about the hostility of Herod, the indifference of the Jews, the slaughter of the Holy Innocents and the flight of the holy family into Egypt.  We can compare Matthew to a novelist who hints at his main theme at the beginning of the book and then develops that theme throughout the novel.

·        It is Luke’s gospel that highlights the joyful aspects of the Lord’s birth.  We read him at the midnight Mass and the Mass at dawn.  Luke tells us about “the sky being lit up, an angel of God appearing to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus and a multitude of heavenly hosts singing God’s praise” like we do in the Gloria.  Luke “speaks of tidings of great joy, nothing to fear, peace on earth, and most especially the good news that a Savior has been born, a Savior who is both Messiah and Lord.”  We can compare Luke’s gospel to the feel-good feature story of the newspaper.

And so, given the way different ways the Christmas story is told, is Christmas a birthday celebration for Jesus?  On the one hand especially Luke’s gospel gives the birth of Jesus all the markings of a great birthday celebration: joyful news, beautiful singing and a great party.  On the other hand the other gospels either don’t tell the story at all or tone down its more joyful aspects and therefore suggest that birthday image does not fully tell us what Christmas is.  As my god-son pointed out, at Christmas, Jesus receives no gifts – we receive gifts.  We receive the gift of God coming into our world to die for us and to restore our friendship with God.  And that is what we celebrate at the Christmas Masses.

Christian Life

Does this mean that we therefore should throw out all our festive Christmas traditions?  No, rather, we should look for the meaning of Christmas behind these signs and symbols.  Let us see in the ever green Christmas trees a symbol of the everlasting life that Jesus is born to bring us; let us see in the Christmas lights the light that Christ’s birth brings into this dark world; and let us see in the Christmas decorations the everlasting banquet that awaits us in heaven.

Even the practice of giving Christmas cards and Christmas gifts can remind us of why Jesus was born into this world.  Yes, writing Christmas cards can be tedious and we would rather use Twitter, messaging and email.  Yes, shopping for Christmas gifts can be a nightmare, especially deciding whether to give him the sweater or the socks.  But giving and receiving Christmas cards and gifts reminds us of self-giving love of God, who sends his Son to the world to become one like us.  While we cannot do as Jesus did, that is, give our lives for another, we can give something that is dear to those we love, without expectation of reward.  I know some families that occasionally decide to not to give Christmas gifts to each other, but instead pool the money together and give it to some worthy cause such as the needy or the missions.

So when you go back home and open those presents under the tree, can you see beyond that pair of socks and that gift-card to Walmart, and appreciate the Christian love that they represent.  And on your part, perhaps you might look back with satisfaction on realizing that your efforts in giving gifts to family members and friends was your way of sharing God’s love for the world.

God’s love contained in Christmas is perhaps best symbolized by all the ways in which Christmas is a time of peace, reconciliation and communion.

·        Many families and friends come together for dinner and conversation, perhaps one of only a few times they do so.  In my home country of Uganda, the whole village celebrates Christmas, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims alike.  Even Muslims who don’t believe that Jesus is God are happy to rejoice with us, because they know that the birth of the Lord means something special for us Christians.  They don’t greet us with the generic “Happy Holidays,” but wish us “Merry Christmas,” because we celebrate the birth of the Lord for us.  Of course we also reciprocate and send them the appropriate greetings on their Muslim and Hindu feast days.

·        You may have heard of the famous Christmas truce during the First World War that happened exactly 100 years ago today.  According to the account of the soldiers who were there, on Christmas Day in 1914, German and English soldiers stopped fighting for a while and crossed into no-man’s land, to wish each other Merry Christmas, sing Christmas carols and exchange cigarettes.  They took photographs with each, played soccer and used the occasion to bury their dead in joint funeral services.  For a little while, these men realized the true meaning of Christmas – that Jesus was born into this world, to bring peace on earth among men.

Conclusion

As someone said, as soon as we are born, we begin to die.  This is far truer in the case of Jesus, whose only reason for being born, for coming into this world, was so that he might die for our sins and restore us to God’s friendship.

Let us celebrate Christmas, therefore, not as a birthday celebration, but more like a memorial celebration, when we remember the birth and life of someone who did so much for us, and who has had a lasting influence on our own lives.

Mary’s response – faith seeking understanding

Homily for Advent – 4^th Sunday Year B 2014-2015

2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-11,16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

Introduction

How should you respond to incredible news, to information that goes counter to everything you know, perhaps information that turns your world upside down?

This is the situation that Mary faces when the angel Gabriel appears to her telling her, that she, a virgin, is going to bear a son.

During my six years of teaching at the Seminary, I have realized that whenever I say something that the students have never heard before or that is counter-intuitive, I can expect one of three responses.

·        First, there is the student who will shrug his shoulders and ignore the new information, saying to himself: “I don’t believe you and I really don’t care.”

·        Second, there is the smart alec, who will push back and will to trip me up with questions to prove me wrong.

·        The third kind of student, my favourite, is on the one hand disturbed by the new information, but is also intrigued by it and wants to know more.  And so often he will ask questions, not to prove me wrong, but wanting me to clarify a little more about what I just said.

And so perhaps those among us who are teachers will recognize these three students:  the indifferent one, combative one and the one seeking to learn more.

Which of these three responses does Mary give on receiving the incredible proposition from the angel Gabriel?

Scripture and Theology

Place yourself for a moment in Mary’s shoes!  You’re a young virgin, about 15-16 years old.  You are already engaged to marry Joseph.  The wedding date has been set a year in advance as required by your parish and you have already booked the church and the priest.  Your mother is already running crazy with the wedding plans.  Although he is a little older and he is not that rich, you are not picky.  You are looking forward to life with Joseph, who is really a good man and will put food on the table.  You look forward to having perhaps six children; three boys to help their dad in the carpentry workshop, and three girls to help with domestic work.  All your childhood dreams seem to be going smoothly!

Then an angel comes to you with this shocking news!

Hail Mary, full of grace!  The Lord is with you!  You have found favour with God and you are going to be the Mother of his Son.

This news is rather disturbing, because if you accept the proposition, then you will have to abandon all your well-laid out plans.  Besides, the news itself is rather implausible, since you know where babies come from.  And so, if you can imagine being in Mary’s shoes, now consider her response.

·        Mary’s response is not like that of the indifferent student.  Nor is it like that of the combative student.  Combativeness is the response of Zechariah the father of John the Baptist.  When the same angel Gabriel told him that his elderly wife was going to give birth to a son, he pushed back asking: “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years” (Lk. 1:18).  And you might want to remember this for yourself, apparently angels don’t like being challenged and they especially don’t like having the message they carry doubted, like Zechariah did.  We know what happened to Zechariah – he was struck dumb and could not speak until the birth of his son, John.

Mary’s response is rather that of the third kind of student, the one who is intrigued by the new information and wants to learn more.  And so she asks the angel to clarify: "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And when the angel has given her more information, explaining to her that she will bear a son by the power of the Holy Spirit and giving her the example of Elizabeth who has conceived a son in her old age, Mary not only believes the angel, but now also understands.  In those famous words, Mary says to the angel:  "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word."  Her question, asked in trust and confidence, has allowed her to give herself totally to the Lord.

Christian Life

This gospel passage is given to us during the Advent season, because just like John the Baptist, Mary plays an important role in the coming of the Messiah.  She actively works with God in bringing the Saviour into this world.  Unlike David who wants to build for God a house of brick and mortar, Mary provides her body to be that house, that channel through which God comes into this world.  And she does this with filled with the kind of faith that wants to know more.

You and I are presented with incredible propositions in our Christian lives.  Just think of some of the teachings of our Catholic faith, which often run counter to our experience and our knowledge.

·        We have doctrines that seem to go against reason, such as Jesus being both true God and true man, such as God being one in three persons, such as a virgin giving birth to a child.

·        We have commandments that seem to go against our natural inclinations, such as the teachings on monogamous marriage, the protection of life from the womb to the tomb, the constant call to care for the poor and needy.

How do we respond when God asks of us what seems impossible or too much?

We cannot simply ignore God’s teaching and say to him, “I don’t believe and I don’t care to understand.”  Nor can we fight God’s Word, as some try to do by actively promoting activities, lifestyles and teachings contrary to God’s Word. Rather, like Mary faced head on the incredible news given to her, we also must engage these teachings by seeking to understand better by asking the Lord: “How can this be?”

God doesn’t seem to mind our questions, as long as our questions are based in trust rather than in doubt.

·        We can ask God these questions in our personal prayer and meditation.  Sometimes we think that the prayer life of saints was very tranquil and calm.  Many actually had a rather active prayer life in which they asked God some tough questions.  Mother Theresa for example, as she took care of the poor and needy, spoke to God wondering loudly, why there was suffering in the world.

·        We can ask also God our questions by studying our faith.  Surely the extent of our learning cannot be just the readings and the ten minute homily we hear at Sunday Mass.  We have to read the Catechism, the Bible, the Pope’s teaching, read in his own words, not via CNN or Fox News, and many other resources such as our deacons, priests and bishops: “How can this be?”

Conclusion

And so, it is not enough that we believe God’s word; we have to understand it.  And when we don’t understand, like Mary we can ask for some more explanation, especially since we have only a poor human intellect.  As one wise teacher said, there is no such thing as a stupid question or in our case an irreverent question.  Like Mary, may we show our love for God and know our mission in life by engaging his Word seriously, even by asking the question: “How can this be?”

Pointing to Jesus in humble witness and grateful service

Homily for Advent – 3^rd Sunday Year B 2014-2015

Isaiah 61:1-2,10-11; 1 Thess 5:16-24; John 1:6-8,19-28

Introduction

Nobody likes to play second fiddle to another; most of us like being in the limelight, being number one.  But in life, often only one person can be in the limelight, and the rest of us support that person.

At a wedding for example, it would be a pity if the guests confused the best-man for the bridegroom; it would be an even greater pity, if they confused one of the bridesmaids for the bride.  Thankfully, most brides go to great lengths to avoid that mistake, by ensuring that nobody else dresses like them, so I have heard.

Scripture and Theology

John the Baptist has no desire to be confused for the Christ.  When the Jews sent him messengers to ask if he was the Christ, the Messiah that was to come, he flatly denies it.  “I am not the Messiah,” he says, but “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord.’”  In other words, his job is to point to and prepare the way for the Messiah.

But why in the first place would the Jews confuse John the Baptist for the Messiah?

·        For starters, they had been waiting for a messiah for a really long time.  Already in Genesis, God promised that the Seed of Eve, that is the Messiah, would crush the evil that the snake had brought into the world.

·        Even at the time of Abraham, Moses and especially the Prophets, God promises to send a Messiah to free his people.  Isaiah in Chapter 9, for example, prophesies about a child being born to us, one who shall be called: “Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.”

And so, John the Baptist seems to fit the bill.  He is eccentric, in fact, quite eccentric in his lifestyle, in his words and in his actions.

·        Like a homeless man, he lives in the desert, eats locusts and wild honey, and dresses in camel hair.

·        But his preaching is also strange.  He say that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and he asks people to prepare the ways of the Lord and to make straight his paths, that is to change their ways and return to the Lord.

·        Most of all he carries out this dramatic ritual, which had never been done before, of baptising people in the Jordan River, for the forgiveness of sins.

And so the Jews could be forgiven for thinking John was the messiah and asking him: “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”

But John the Baptist knows his role and is very comfortable with it.  He is comfortable with playing second fiddle to Jesus the Messiah.  He uses three examples to point away from himself towards the Messiah.

·        In Mark’s gospel (1:8) John says: “I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.”

·        And in John’s gospel (1:26-27) that we just read today the Baptist says: “there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

·        And later in John’s gospel (3:29-30), the Baptist uses the wedding image saying: “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.”  And then John concludes: “So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.”

And so, John is content to baptize only with water, content to be the best man standing by the bridegroom, content to decrease so the Messiah might increase.

Christian Life

In this Advent season of watching and waiting for the Second Coming of the Lord, John the Baptist teaches us how to wait.  We cannot wait in idleness, but must wait by pointing others to the Messiah just like John the Baptist does.  And we do this in humility and gratitude.

Often we point others to Jesus without even having to say a word about the gospel, but just by living it.  After all, that is what Jesus told us to do: “your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Mt. 5:16).

·        We point to Jesus in our daily lives, in the routine things we do, such as taking the children to school or going to do Christmas shopping or just earning our daily bread.

·        We point to Jesus when people see in us the joy, peace and love that come from knowing Jesus and being in love with him.

Our witness to Jesus in this way does not require us to do anything spectacular or extraordinary; we kill two birds with one stone, just being good holy Christians and at the same time by that every action pointing to Jesus.

Of course we must also point others to Jesus by actively preaching the gospel to them, like John the Baptist did.  Deacons, priests and bishops have a primary role in these efforts, but indeed all of us Catholics are called to teach what Jesus taught.  Parents and grandparents especially are called to pass on God’s Word to their children.  And this can be difficult around Christmas time, when the whole family comes together, including those members who don’t practice the faith.  Many of us Catholics are conflicted about what to do.  Should I invite such members?  Should I go to their house?  Should I say grace before the Christmas dinner, when half my family doesn’t pray?  Should I invite them to come to Christmas Mass with me?

However we point others to Jesus, whether it is by our ordinary day to day witness or whether it is by actively teaching about the faith, we must do so in humility and in gratitude to God.

What we do is not really of our own making; our efforts are a gift from God.  Like John the Baptist, we should realize that is not about you or me and what you or me want; our efforts of witness and evangelization are about Jesus and what he wants.  We must do our work in bringing others to Christ or bringing Christ to them with humility and not with a sense of triumphalism.

And especially when we do a good job, there is a temptation to let that success go to our heads. John the Baptist certainly faced that temptation, given all the crowds that were coming to him.  By any standards, his work was successful.  As a priest, for example, people will come to you after Mass, and say, “good job Father.”  I should respond politely of course, saying, “Thanks be to God” who has enabled me to be a worthy mouthpiece for his message.  Perhaps as a parent, as a teacher, as a parishioner you do very well.  John the Baptist teaches us to steer the praise received away from us, since in truth we don’t do it all by ourselves, but steer it towards God, the source of all blessings.

Conclusion

Finally the only reason the Jews came to John the Baptist to ask if he was the Messiah was because in some way he looked like and behaved like the Messiah.

We too therefore have to be Christ-like in some way, Christ-like enough for people to make the connection between us and Christ.  For if we don’t resemble Jesus in some way, whether it is in our beliefs, worship or good deeds, how can we point others to him?  We must resemble Jesus enough to be confused for him and at the same we must point away from ourselves because as preachers and doers of the gospel, we are nothing but humble and grateful servants of the Lord, content and eager to play second fiddle to the Master.

Preparing the way for the Lord

Homily for Advent – 2^nd Sunday Year B 2014-2015Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8

Introduction

Why does John the Baptist tell the people: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths?”

To come here every weekend, I travel 8.2 miles from the door at Notre Dame Seminary where I live, to the door of this church.  And usually, if there is no traffic, it takes me about 15 minutes to get here.  That is because the roads are generally smooth.  I take Carrollton Avenue, get onto the I-10 interstate, then on to the Bridge, the General De Gaulle exit and I am here in Algiers.

Although the last few streets, Landry, Whitney and Opelousas are a bit rough, they are nothing compared to the bad roads in Uganda.  One of my mission churches when I was pastor in Uganda was about the same distance away.  But it took me nearly an hour to get there, because the dirt roads had a million pot holes, the swampy area had no bridge, and some places just had no road.

The roads in Palestine, were probably like the roads in Uganda needing repair, especially when an important guest, like a king was visiting.  Preparing the roads, therefore, was an image that the Jewish people would understand immediately.  And that is why John the Baptist uses it to explain his message. 

Scripture and Theology

His message is that the Saviour of the World is coming and so the people should prepare their hearts for him. The prophet Isaiah had warned about this already:

Every valley shall be filled in,

every mountain and hill shall be made low;

the rugged land shall be made a plain,

the rough country, a broad valley.

John the Baptist wants the people to put this image into practice: to fill in the valleys, to level the mountains, smoothen the rugged land and broaden the narrow country roads.  But they are to do this in their hearts.

To help them make this preparation, John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  In other words, for the people, preparing the ways and paths required two things: repentance and baptism.

Repentance meant that they turned from their old ways of sin and returned to the ways of the Lord. God has chosen the people of Israel as his own special people.  And he made a special agreement with them at the time of Moses; that he would be their God, and that they would be his people, following his commandments.  But time and again, they had reneged on their end of the deal; they had sinned over and over again and sometimes they had sinned very seriously, like when they turned to other gods.

And so, John, by his fiery teaching and by the example of his very austere life in the desert, calls the people to conversion.  They must once again honour the deal their forefathers had made with God, that is, to follow the commands of the Lord.  They had to change completely.

The second requirement was to show outwardly this decision to change.  The outward sign for showing their conversion was baptism in water, the baptism of John the Baptist.  Already in their traditions, ritual washing with water, was a sign of inner purification.  And as we heard:

People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem

were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River

as they acknowledged their sins.

And so, people prepared for the coming of Jesus, by interior conversion and by the exterior act of baptism in the water.  These are the people who will be the first disciples of Jesus.  In fact, Jesus picked some of his apostles, like James and John, from among this crowd.  The Baptist had done his part; he had helped the people prepare the way for the Lord, so that he might easily enter their hearts.

Christian Life

That message of preparation applies to us as well.  Just as the Jewish people prepared for his first coming which we remember at Christmas, we prepare for his second coming at the end of the world.  We do so throughout our daily lives and throughout the year.  But the Advent season, which ends in Christmas, is a special time to practice preparing for the Lord.  We say that we are preparing for Christmas, but in reality our Advent preparations are dress-rehearsal as we wait for the final coming.

Like John the Baptist provided his listeners with two concrete preparations, the interior conversion and the external sign of that conversion in baptism, the Church also does the same of us in the sacrament of confession.

As Advent and Christmas come towards the end of the year, this is a good opportunity to look back over and see which of our thoughts, words and actions are not compatible with the Lord’s ways.  We should examine our consciences and see what kind of potholes and broken bridges might be stopping the Lord from coming in or might be delaying his arrival in our hearts.  And then like the people who came to John the Baptist, we should fill in these potholes and rebuild the bridges, by making the conscious decision to return to the Lord’s ways.

One serious road-block to the Lord’s coming among us today is hate and anger.

·        At the international level, this hate and anger is expressed in the record number of wars in the world at this time.  Pope Francis has remarked that we might be already in the Third World War, but one happening in stages.

·        At the national and local level, our streets are full of various kinds of violence.  People kill others for the flimsiest reasons.  We take life, whether it is that of an unborn baby, or a full grown adult without giving it a second thought.

·        And then in our personal conversations and what we write on the internet, people speak with anger and hatred with such ease and frequency, that we seem to have forgotten the Lord’s teaching: “. . . I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment . . .  and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna” (Mt. 5:28).

One way we prepare for the Lord’s coming is to leave behind a life of hatred and anger and take on a life of love and peace.

Like the crowds came to John to be baptized in the Jordan River as an external sign of admitting their sins and showing their conversion, we too need to go to the priest and through that ritual, demonstrate our conversion.  Moreover, confession is far superior to the baptism of John, because in our case, at the end of the process, when the priest declares “I absolve you from your sins,” your sins are actually forgiven by God.  While John with his baptism was only pointing to the saving work of Jesus, the priest, standing as God’s delegate, dispenses the forgiveness that comes from the saving work of Jesus.

Conclusion

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths,” is a task to be done both for the first coming of Jesus and for his final coming again, whenever that is.

If Christmas is the season to be jolly, Advent is the season to be ready and prepared.  One of these days someone might say to you: “Are you ready for Christmas?”  Of course they probably are referring to the Christmas decorations, shopping, dinner, which are all important.  But can you hear in this question, the call of John the Baptist: “Have you prepared the way of the Lord?  Have you made straight his paths?”  For you want the Lord to arrive sooner, rather than later, so that it takes him 15 minutes, not one hour to find you.