Christmas Homily

Today's Feast speaks its own Word, the Word-made-Flesh, so little needs to be said. But I cannot allow that to become an excuse for saying nothing at all, so here are my few Christmas words, posted as my sister prepares the Christmas lunch...

Christmas: for some people Christmas is “about the children”; for others it is about “family”. In reality, Christmas is about one child –the Christ child, and about one family –the Holy Family.

Christmas is a remembrance of the great day when the love of God for sinful man became visible in the Word-made-Flesh, Jesus Christ; the only-begotten Son of the Father, who came at the Father’s will to suffer and die with and for sinful man then rise again destroy death and restore life to all who seek Him. Such folk have their sins forgiven; they are renewed in spirit, and follow Him to heaven.

The Mass we celebrate on Christmas Day and every day is always the same Mass; here on the altar is made Present the Body of Christ that was born for us in Bethlehem and given up for us in Sacrifice outside Jerusalem, with the same Blood that was poured out on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. This is the measure of how much God loves us; it is an unfathomable love; a love we cannot even hope to comprehend.

Since Christ is truly Present at Mass, so too is the Father and the Holy Spirit  -with all the angels and saints who surround the Blessed and undivided Trinity in eternity. Truly, at Mass, Heaven is made present on earth. Indeed, we come to Mass to come to heaven; we come to Mass to have Christmas, Easter and Heaven made present to us; to show God that we want heaven to be our home. Since The Mass is truly heaven on earth, to be absent from Mass is to be absent from heaven; and that is a sad situation in which to place our soul. Parents: do take seriously the duty to keep your children devoted to the Mass before all else; to place Mass -Heaven- before all else. It’s our only true and lasting home.

Making present Christmas, Easter and Heaven, every Mass is a demonstration of God’s love for us; and where we demonstrate our love for Him by responding; by coming to Mass and receiving the Lord in Holy Communion whenever we are in a state of grace and therefore able to make Him welcome. Christmas and Easter, made present to us in the Mass, are the greatest acts of giving and receiving of love -Divine love, unfathomable love, to which we must do our very best to respond.

May the Divine love be with you and your families tonight and throughout your lives.