Dear Friends,

This is wishing each and everyone a happy and merry Christmastime! Our world isn’t all that we would hope for by way of equality, and justice in the very simplest of everyday needs, as well as a semblance of peace in our war-torn world, but yet, today we remember the coming of our brother Jesus into our midst–one who is continually coming, if we allow it, into our lives, showing us the way to work for that equality, justice, and peace.

I offer the following homily for your reflection. Have peace, love, and joy–Pastor Kathy

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My friends, first of all, a merry Christmas to each of you!  Every year as Christmas approaches, I look for a “good story” to share that says, in plain, everyday language what Christmas is all about—what it means to be a Christian, a follower of our brother Jesus, who became the Christ, and as Father Richard Rohr says in his Christmas meditation, “is forever incarnating in the human soul and [into] history.”

   This year, it dawned on me—I didn’t need to go looking for a story, because the story was right in front of me, the Christmas Story, and if I told it perhaps in a new way, it would be most meaningful!

   This age-old, and really timeless story, spoken of as the “Incarnation,” is a simple, yet profound “love story.”  It is about God, first loving us, coming into our existence, in a form that we could recognize, living with us, and among us, showing how to truly live our one, wonderful life, enjoying it, and sharing it with all the others who come into our lives. 

   The wonder of God choosing to be, “one-with-us” is probably best said by Paul in his letter to the Philippians, chapter 2: “His state was divine, yet he did not cling to it, but became as all humans are…”  To me, this speaks of a God who wants to be close—that is the whole point of the “Incarnation”—God choosing to take on our existence, put on our human skin, so to speak, live, love, and struggle as we do, to be our best selves, for the good of the earth and all people, ourselves included. 

   There is a wonderful story that I have shared in the past about a flock of geese lost in a Christmas Eve storm, and of a farmer who wanted to get them into the shelter of a barn until the storm passed.  After trying to shoo them, and round them up, to no avail, he realized that he needed, to get down among them, on the ground, somehow looking like them, in order for them to trust him, and follow…that’s what the Incarnation is really all about—simple.

   I think we can get caught up in all kinds of religious jargon and theories about why God would choose to be “one-with” the creation that God had made.  As is the case, in other mysterious things that we can’t truly understand, the reasons that make the most sense, are often the simplest!  God loves us as all good parents love their off-spring, and wants us to get it right—therefore, shows us the way. 

   Later in our Church Year, we will concentrate more on the fact that living, as Jesus did, proclaiming equality for all, is not always easy and there will be some suffering that goes with that, but at Christmastime, it is more than enough to focus on the great love behind this Incarnation! 

   Sister Joan Chittister says, “Only Christianity, of all the religions, argues that the Creator has taken on the flesh and blood of creation in order to bring us to [in fact] assert the divine in ourselves,” or as I often tell you, “the best that each of us has to offer!”  The poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning says of it, “Earth is crammed with heaven!” 

   Theologies of old used to teach that we should “long for heaven”—that our time as humans, basically isn’t as important, and thus came, the practices of “hanging our heads,” and “beating our breasts,” awaiting a time when we would die, go to heaven, and be reunited with God. But when Jesus “graced” our earth, as the letter to Titus referred to him in the 2^nd reading today, Jesus said, and I paraphrase, heaven is here, now, among you! 

   That’s what we celebrate now at Christmastime, that Jesus/God is among us—with us—now!  It seems though that through religious history, we humans manage to get this really simple message of love wrong. 

   Today, along with it being the Eve of Christmas, the Church calendar also tells us that it is the 4^th Sunday of Advent, and that our time of “expectant waiting” is almost over!  The readings for this 4^th Sunday of Advent, from Samuel, Romans, and Luke, first establish the House of David, with a shepherd boy as its head—the line that Jesus, the Messiah will emerge from, with Paul naming him as this long-awaited One.  The gospel reading clearly names the earthly parents of Jesus as belonging to the line of David, with one missing piece. 

   The Scripture reading for Christmas Day from Matthew traces the line to Jesus through Joseph, who apparently had nothing to do with his conception in Mary’s womb, who, by the way, also came from the lineage of David, but when the Scripture was recorded, it wasn’t known that women played a roll in conception, and the ultimate look and quality of offspring except that of a vessel for the growth to take place.  So, after 2,000+ years, it seems appropriate to say that our sister Mary provided the human component!

   The other piece that humans got wrong over the years is the purpose of Jesus’ coming as well as what his earthly life would be about.  We see in the 1^st reading from Samuel for the 4^th Sunday of Advent, that David is concerned that the God of the Israelites would have a temple equal to his own, which we know was lavish.  God’s answer to David was to ignore the question about God’s temple, but simply to tell David that he should be a “good king” to his people.  It would seem that even to the present day, the hierarchy of our Church haven’t heard, nor taken this message of simplicity of living and strength of character in serving and leading, to heart. 

   Moving then into the Christmas Eve Scriptures, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the “people walking in darkness, having seen a brilliant light.”  We know that “a child born to us,” who will grow, “in wisdom and grace” is the source of this “brilliant light” –probably the reason that we decorate trees and our houses with much “light” at this time of year, whether we always consciously relate the two or not. 

   A few years back, in a Christmas column, Sister Joan Chittister, reflecting on the “light” that Jesus brings, said, that when we make the conscious effort to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, answering the call to his first disciples, “to come and see,” “We must realize,” [that it may take some of us] “where there are no lights—to hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, and dark neighborhoods.”  We all need “the light” as it gives us the hope that, while everything may not be good in our world, there is much that is good, plus light and hope, faith and love will all give us the strength to carry on in the sometimes-dark places in our lives. 

   The 2^nd reading from Titus speaks of, “the grace of God” [appearing], offering salvation to all.”  Titus goes on to open up what he means by “salvation” naming Jesus as our “blessed hope.” This “blessed hope” –this “brilliant light,” is about so much more than, “saving us from our sins!”  It is rather, about, “showing us the way,” about letting us know that none of us have to walk our earthly journey, alone—our God, because of Jesus, is always with us! This is the hope that should sustain us in the good and not-so-good of our lives.  St. Joseph Sister, Mary McClone, in one of her homilies for Advent, in the National Catholic Reporter, said it well. [We have] “hope-soaked promises in the process of growing in grace.”

   So, my friends, as we gather at this time of relative, peace-light-love, and hopefully, joy, we are called to remember how our brother Jesus came, to-be-one-with humanity, especially in those struggling as evidenced by the fact that his earthly parents could find, “no room at the inn,” much like many poor and suffering people at our southern border.  Our God, in Jesus, graced our humanity by his presence in it, by the example of love that he gave us, not so that we would “fear,” but that we could follow his lead, and do the same. 

   One of the memorable characters in A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, was known for saying this:  I like to think of Christmas when it comes around each year as a kindly time, when people open up their “closed hearts.” This action, I would suggest, is why most people truly love this time of year. 

   Again, as we look around our world and see so much that needs fixing, I was pleased to hear a news piece recently speaking about the war in the Middle East— “we can’t hate our way out of this—we must love our way out!” Yes, and Jesus, I believe would agree! Amen? Amen!