Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord
Fr Dominic’s Homily
On today’s feast of the nativity of the Lord we celebrate Christmas. Or “Christs Mass”. And Christmas is above all else a meeting.
It’s a meeting between the vastness of heaven, and the small fields of earth. Between the splendour of heaven, and the poverty of a manger, And between the choirs of heaven, and the silence of a dark Bethlehem night as the stars looked down.
On that night, the infinite power of God meets the vulnerability of a small baby. God, of course, had many options of how he could come into the world. He could have appeared as a Supreme king, or a clever politician, or a mighty warrior. But he chose to become the most helpless person possible – a tiny baby.
Our God who created the universe with all its complexity, science and beauty chose to be among us in this way; small and vulnerable and completely dependent on us to care for him.
It is a wonder that will never cease to capture our imagination and hearts. God is no longer distant and removed from us in His faraway heaven; God is now forever close to us. He adopts our life in order that we can receive his divine life. He becomes limited, fragile and weak out of love for you and me.
This is why our lives have an unlimited value. And this is why we should really accept and love ourselves for who we are and be grateful to God for all he has given us. Because he has redeemed us, shown us his love and is with us forever.
Jesus is the fulfilment of everything. He is the master key of the universe that unlocks its deeper meaning. The universe is filled with purpose, divine order and harmony. All things came to be through him. All disciplines and sciences depend on him.
All forms of achieving the true and good and the beautiful in this world find their fulfilment in Christ.
God initiates all things. He is the first cause of everything and on this night his light enters our world. God’s light is the illumination of the world. There is a goal to all our searching. There is a fulfilment to the deepest longing of the human heart.
The Birth of Jesus is the beginning of God’s promise to save us from despair, sin and death. He comes to teach us how to re evaluate our lives. He comes to love us and to change us.
Mary and Joseph actually went from Nazareth in the North down to Bethlehem (a name which means house of bread) in the South because Joseph needed to register for the census for Caesar Augustus. Because Joseph was of the House of David. Joseph is of course from that royal family line of King David. Jesus is to be heir to the kingdom of David.
Jesus is then born in a stable and placed into a manger which is used to hold food for the animals. So Jesus is born in a town called the house of bread. He is placed in a food manger and will become food for all humanity as bread for our lives.
He now remains with us for ever as bread from heaven housed in our tabernacles. And it is at the Mass that we have the real presence of God now forever amongst his people.
The Angels told this good news to the Shepherds and they went with haste, to find Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.
The fact that the shepherds went to find Jesus implies some effort on their part; they had to search. It was a mini pilgrimage. But their search was not in vain. We hear that when the Shepherds returned home after seeing Jesus they were changed. They went home rejoicing!
Like the shepherds who went with haste and shared the good news, we as Christians are also called to go with haste and share the good news.
The implications of Jesus’ birth can change our lives forever. We hope that like those shepherds, we may be changed in some small way by the birth of Jesus.
There was no room in the inn for the birth of Jesus but let’s make room for him to be born in our hearts this Christmas amongst the business and stress of all the preparations.
So it is fitting that we celebrate today’s feast here at the Mass which is the ultimate place of meeting between God and his people.
In what better way can we truly celebrate the birth of Jesus than at Christ’s Mass?