December 25, 2018

There were several different Masses for Christmas. Here you'll find Msgr. Gervasio's homilies for the Mass of the Day and the Mass at Night.
 

Christmas Homily of the “Mass of the Day”

“From Bethlehem to Heaven”

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

 
The Gospel of this morning’s Mass may appear a bit strange to us.  Where are those familiar and beloved images that evoke the Christmas feast?  Where are Mary and Joseph, the choirs of angels, the anxious and devout shepherds?  Where is the Divine Infant lying in the manger whom we have come to honor and adore? Why do we not hear of them at Mass? The answer lies in liturgical arrangement the Church has made to celebrate Christmas. Christmas has three distinct Masses and each Mass unfolds for us a different aspect of the Lord’s nativity. 
 
In the first Mass celebrated last night, we encounter Mary and Joseph and the Infant Jesus in the manger whose birth is announced by the angelic choirs to shepherds in the fields.
 
The second, called “The Mass at Dawn,” focuses on the shepherds who go “in haste” to Bethlehem to meet “Mary and Joseph and the Infant lying in the manger.”     
 
Ours is the third Mass of Christmas, “the Mass during the Day” which transports us, if you will, with the help of St. John, from Bethlehem to where it all began—the glory of heaven: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.” Saint John helps us understand that the Infant of Bethlehem who lies in the poverty of the manger is no ordinary child but is as we profess in the Creed, “the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things were made and who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven. The epistle tells us that he is the refulgence of God’s glory, “the very imprint of his being.”  
 
This is the truth that underlies our celebration.  And this truth has a consequence for us.  God put off His glory for us—for our salvation. He came down to earth to raise us to heaven. He came in time so that we might be born for eternity. 

When Moses asked to see the face of God, the Lord told him, “You cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live.”  We are more privileged than Moses for we can gaze upon the face of God in the Infant lying in the manger. He is not a God far removed from us or distant, but a God who has drawn near to us, who understands and loves us even in our weaknesses and sin. 
 
What are our thoughts as we then gaze into the crèche of our church or home? More than just a part of our Christmas décor, it is the very reason and the heart of Christmas. Perhaps this prayer we have placed at the crèches of our two great churches might move us from merely “looking” to “praying.”

“O Jesus,
You are the Light that illumines for us the face of God. 
How humble you are, O God!
While we desire to be great, You, O God, become small.
While we strive to be first, You, O God, take the lowest place.
While we want to dominate, You O God, come to serve.
While we seek honors and privileges, You, O God, seek to wash our feet. 
What a difference between you and us, O Lord!
O Jesus, meek and humble, take away the pride of our hearts;
deflate our arrogance; give us your humility
 that coming down from our pedestal,
     we will meet you and our brothers and sisters.
It will then be Christmas and we shall rejoice! 
Amen.

Christmas Mass at Night:

“No Ordinary Infant”

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

Nothing changes people more than the arrival of a baby. Nothing upsets routine more than the presence of a baby. Nothing “converts” people more than a baby. Think of the joy and amazement of parents! Think of the delight of a brother and sister, aunt or uncle. Let’s not even get into the transformation that occurs in new grandparents! George Weigel says that “Infants are human magnets who drain us of our ego-centric behavior.”
 
This evening the baby Jesus draws us. But, of course, he is no ordinary infant. This infant who lies in the manger is, as the Creed tells us the “...Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things were made and who for us and our salvation came down from heaven.”
 
This truth is the foundation of our celebration. We gather to celebrate not so much a Christmas “spirit” as much as this Christmas “truth” And this truth has a consequence for us. “Christmas spirit” is often reduced to a vague attitude or warm feeling that overtakes us in an otherwise grim time of the year. It’s rarely anything concrete or specific. Christmas is amazingly specific—the Lord Jesus. The One who dwells in inapproachable light became visible. The Creator of the world enters the world. God puts off His glory and takes upon himself our frail humanity.
 
When Moses asked to see the face of God, the Lord told him, “You cannot see my face— for man shall not see me and live.” But we are more privileged than Moses for we can gaze upon the face of God in the Infant lying in the manger.
 
Unlike the God of Islam whose power is made known only by way of his infinite distance and imposing commands, the God of Christianity displays his glory by drawing near to us. He is not a distant, unconcerned God who “stays up above” and does not interfere, but a God who understands and loves us even in all our foibles.
 
Christmas proclaims that God’s love for us is a concrete and tangible reality. Just as his love was made visible so should our love be visible.
 
This Infant is the “magnet” that draws us here and transforms us. He transforms our view of God and teaches us that just as his love was made visible and concrete, so must our own. We may have to change. We must allow our Christmas spirit to become flesh.
 
How? Perhaps this prayer we have placed at the crèches of our churches provides an answer:

“O Jesus,
You are the Light that illumines for us the face of God.
How humble you are, O God!
While we desire to be great, You, O God, become small.
While we strive to be first,
You, O God, take the lowest place.
While we want to dominate, You O God, come to serve.
While we seek honors and privileges,
You, O God, seek to wash our feet.
What a difference between you and us, O Lord!
O Jesus, meek and humble, take away the pride of our hearts;
deflate our arrogance; give us your humility
that coming down from our pedestal,
            we will meet you and our brothers and sisters.
It will then be Christmas and we shall rejoice!
Amen.