Christmas, 2024

Christmas (A B C)

The Gift that Surpasses All Others

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

 
Little Chris saw his generous Uncle George a few days after Christmas and said, “Uncle George, thanks for the electric guitar you gave me for Christmas. It's the best present I ever got." "That's great," said Uncle George, "Do you know how to play it?"  "Oh, I don't play it at all," Chris said. "My mom gives me a dollar a day not to play it during the day and my dad gives me five dollars a week not to play it at night.” 
 
Gifts, in whatever shape and size they come and whether we use them or not, have always marked the Christmas season. Gifts are a way of expressing love, appreciation, gratitude, and even apologies. Gifts symbolize thoughtfulness and care. They strengthen bonds and show others that they are valued.
 
We gather on this solemn feast to celebrate the greatest, the most incomparable gift ever given…the gift of the Eternal Father who sent his Son into the world for our salvation, to bring us truth, healing, pardon, and the hope of eternal life. 
 
The amazing fact is that he did this not by coming as a mighty conqueror or a majestic king, not by being born in a splendid palace, but as an infant born in the humility of a manger. In his immense love, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, “God from God, Light from light, True God from true God,” came down from the great height of divinity to the mire of our humanity. A cattle stall became the dwelling of the infinite. The God of majestic power abandoned himself in complete dependance to the loving care of a human mother. 
 
This was the way God planned it. This was the way that God would display his immense glory and enduring love. He came not a distant or unconcerned God who “stays up above” and does not interfere. He is not a God to be feared but one who is approachable, moved by our pains and who accompanies us in our struggles. 
 
This Infant, Jesus, Emmanuel, is the “magnet” who draws us here today. As we gaze into the manger scene over these days, let us see ever more clearly that this Incarnation, this union of God and Man, is the way God opens his heart to us. His opens arms tell us that he wants to enter our life to transform and enrich us. He teaches us that just as his love was made visible and concrete, so must our own be. The awesome mystery of the Lord’s Nativity, precludes us from saying, “I am not worthy of God’s love.” 
 
Christmas is the mystery of God’s immense love for us. It is the mystery that lies behind all the good wishes and gifts we exchange. Even beneath our irritability, our quarrels, beneath the divisions that sometime happen over little things, there is the desire to be understood, the desire to love and to be loved. The Infant Jesus come among us is the sign, the great gift that God has opened the door to that transformation and new life.
 

Christmas: Mass During the Day

A Gift from Heaven to Bethlehem

Msgr. Gervasio

 
Little Chris saw his generous Uncle George a few days after Christmas and said, “Uncle George, thanks for the electric guitar you gave me for Christmas. It's the best present I ever got." "That's great," said Uncle George, "Do you know how to play it?"  "Oh, I don't play it at all," Chris said. "My mom gives me a dollar a day not to play it during the day and my dad gives me five dollars a week not to play it at night.” 
 
Gifts, in whatever shape and size they come and whether we use them or not, have always marked the Christmas season. Gifts are a way of expressing love, appreciation, gratitude, and even apologies. Gifts symbolize thoughtfulness and care. They strengthen bonds and show others that they are valued.
 
We gather on this solemn feast to celebrate the greatest, the most incomparable gift ever given…the gift of the Eternal Father who sent his Son into the world for our salvation, to bring us truth, healing, pardon, and the hope eternal life. 
 
As we gather to celebrate the coming of the Lord in time, his birth at Bethlehem, isn’t rather curious that the Gospel of this Mass is devoid of the beloved figures we would expect, those that evoke for us the Christmas feast…Mary, Joseph, the angelic choir, or even the excited shepherds. The Infant Jesus in the manger is not even mentioned. This is because the Church unfolds the awesome mystery of Christmas for us in three distinct Masses: The first Mass during the night and the second, celebrated at dawn present the scene of Our Lord’s birth, with Mary, Joseph, the angelic choir, and the shepherds. 
 
We might say this Gospel transports us from Bethlehem to where it all began—the glory of heaven. The Church would want us to know that the Infant in the manger is no ordinary infant. We should know his origin, his true identity. This is, in fact, “God from God, Light from light, True God from true God,” come down from the great height of divinity to the mire of our humanity. He did not come as a mighty conqueror or a majestic king, not by being born in a splendid palace, but as infant born in the humility of a manger. A cattle stall became the dwelling of the infinite. 
 
This was the way God planned it. This was the way that God would display his immense glory and enduring love. Christmas teaches us that He came not as a distant or unconcerned God who “stays up above” and does not interfere. He is not a God to be feared but one who is approachable, moved by our pains and who accompanies us in our struggles. 
 
This Infant, Jesus, Emmanuel, is the “magnet” who draws us here today. As we gaze into the manger scene over these days, let us see ever more clearly that this Incarnation, this union of God and Man, is the way God opens his heart to us. His opens arms tell us that he wants to enter our life to transform and enrich us. He teaches us that just as his love was made visible and concrete, so must our own be. The awesome mystery of the Lord’s Nativity, precludes us from saying, “I am not worthy of God’s love.” 
 
Christmas is the mystery of God’s immense love for us. It is the mystery that lies behind all the good wishes and gifts we exchange. Even beneath our irritability, our quarrels, beneath the divisions that sometimes happen over little things, there is the desire to be understood, the desire to love and to be loved. The Infant Jesus come among us is the sign, the great gift that God has opened the door to that transformation and new life.