Christmas Homily (2025)
Christmas Mass During the Night
Isaiah 9:1-6
Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13 (Luke 2:11)
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14
December 25, 2024
One of favorite Christmas hymns begins “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Here we are. We come together in faith to celebrate.
To celebrate what?
What do we come looking for?
We come looking for light. We come looking for hope.
This time of year can be very busy. The activities can make us happy for a little while but sometimes we find ourselves looking for more, asking ourselves is this all there is.
Isaiah speaks of “the people who walked in darkness” who “have seen a great light.” “In the land of gloom a light has shone.”
What makes the world gloomy today? What brings darkness to our world?
The recent car attack in Germany has brought gloom to many. There was another car attack in Texas. Nine days ago there was the school shooting at a Christan school in Wisconsin.
Is there something in your personal life that makes things gloomy for you now?
The above serve as “signs of the times” that the world is not as it should be.
That does not mean there is no reason for hope.
We are beginning a new jubilee year in our Catholic Church. The theme is “Pilgrims of Hope.” Pope Francis wrote a document called “Spes Non Confundit” for this jubilee year.
When Pope Francis speaks in “Spes Non Confundit” (7) of the signs of the times, he first mentions signs like those I listed a moment ago. He also points to some positive signs. One place Pope Francis finds a positive sign is in the humanitarian aid response we see to disasters. There are still good people who help those in need.
Their aid brings hope and the light of Christ to those suffering disaster.
Pope Francis goes on to speak of the many ways we can bring hope to others, how we can reveal the light of Christ to others to bring them “abundant joy and great rejoicing.”
God sent the Israelites a message of hope. The Lord speaks to them, “For a child is born to us, a son is given us, upon his shoulder dominion rests.” God is going to send them a new ruler who will be named “God-Hero” and “Prince of Peace.”
He is the one who will bring “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding” (3rd Sunday of Advent Year C). The peace of God points us beyond worldly things.
Who is this child who is to born to us and where will he be born? When will he come?
The place is Bethlehem, “too small to be among the clans of Judah,” yet it is the place where “one who is to be ruler in Israel” is to be born (4th Sunday of Advent Year C). The peace of God points us beyond worldly things.
When?
Today is the day. The time has come.
Who is the child?
It is Jesus.
The Lord has known the day and the place all along. He knew Caesar Augustus would call for a census. For the census Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem, the city of David.
It is when they are in Bethlehem that the time came for Jesus to be born.
We find hope when we see the prophecies about Jesus fulfilled. Why? Because it proves we can count on what God says.
One might expect the newborn king of the Jews to be born in a palace.
He was not. He was born in a stable.
One might expect the newborn king of the Jews to be dressed in fine robes. He was not. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes.
He must at least have a bed. Instead, He was laid in a manger. A manger is not a crib. It’s a food trough for animals.
This might seem wrong but it points to Jesus’ giving us his Body and Blood as food for our souls in the Eucharist.
It was not royalty who were the first to greet baby Jesus. It was ordinary shepherds.
All this happens to bring hope to the average person. It happens to bring hope to us all. Is not the search for hope the reason you are here today. Are you not looking for light in the darkness?
What we celebrate today is incredible. The angel delivers to the shepherds and to us “good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.”
This is what brings us here.
Even if you have no more reason for coming for Mass today than it is your Christmas tradition, even if you feel like you don’t know why you are here, Jesus offers you hope today.
It is Jesus who we are all looking for.
In Jesus’ birth, “The grace of God has appeared, saving all.”
Jesus comes “training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age.”
We need to listen to Jesus as the way and the truth and the life.
It is in doing so that we find hope.
If you want to see things change for the better, then do as Jesus tells us. He is the one “who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness.”
Today we celebrate the first coming of Jesus as we “await the blessed hope” of his Second Coming.
Why?
“Because there was no room for them in the inn.”
You made an hour today for Jesus.
Will you make room in your heart for Jesus every day?