Christmas homily. 24-25th December, 2008
Christmas is such a wonderful time…. It’s great to see everyone here this Christmas….. young and all………families… friends… individuals…..children… its so nice to be together to give thanks for the wonderful gift God gave us on the first Christmas… the gift of his own son… God made human……
The children know that the real reason we give presents on Christmas, is so that we can remember that God, our heavenly Father, gave us the greatest gift of all time… not money… not toys… not clothes… but the gift of his only son… to the world… so that we can all become part of God’s family…..
I hope that this Christmas… is a really special time for you all…. as you give thanks for each other… and for the gift of family and friends…..
The young children of prep, from our parish primary school were asked to write what the story of Christmas is all about - in their own words….. and I was reading what they wrote…. and I was delighted and very impressed……
here are some of what they wrote…. ….. “THE CHRISTMAS STORY, in the words of our PREP STUDENTS”
“Mary hopped on a donkey and rode to
They looked for a home to stay in. The innkeeper said “you can’t go here there’s not any room.” The innkeeper said “you can go in the stable. There baby Jesus can go in the pot where the animals eat out of.”
The animals looked over Jesus. And Mary and Joseph looked over Him as well. The little drummer boy came to see Him and the shepherds came too. …to visit Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. The animals looked at Jesus. The animals came to watch. The camels watched the baby.
The three men followed the star to Jesus.
The angels told the shepherds there was a new king born to see. Then, they told the kings that “there was a new born king to see.”
The old king was mad and jealous.
The three men brought gold, myrrh and frankincense for Jesus. ….
They went home after the big meeting.
Jesus was special because He made everything that people wanted and He died on the cross because all the soldiers weren’t happy.”*
(*Thanks Mrs Teresa Jirasek and the prep students of St Mary’s Catholic Primary school, Maryborough, for these wonderful words…..)
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It is really nice isn’t it….. and you know the old saying…. ‘out of the mouths of children….”……
These prep children picked up a few really important things about the Christmas story about Jesus, that are really important points……
and when you look a the story of Jesus’ birth from a child’s perspective….. it gives it a fresh and beautifully deep meaning…
one of the things that really struck me with the children’s version of the birth of Jesus, is that many of the children noticed that the animals were LOOKING at Jesus…. Mary and Joseph were looking at Jesus… but also… the animals too… they were looking at this new born child…. and what a wonderful reminder…. the birth of Jesus…. God’s son… and God made human…. this is something not only for humans….but Jesus’ birth was good news for the whole of creation…humans.. animals… environment everything…. Jesus is Lord of heaven and the earth and all things in it… and men, women, children, and also….animals, plants EVERYTHING is renewed and blessed by Jesus’ birth ! …. Jesus’ birth brings salvation to the whole of creation….
The other thing the children pointed out… was that Jesus was placed in a food trough…. a pot… a thing where animals eat out of …… this is amazing…. the King of all creation…. the son of God ….. rests his head in a food trough….. wow…. you can’t get more humble… more down-to-earth than that…..
In the Mass… Jesus comes to us as food… as what looks like bread and wine… but which is really Jesus presence to us.. to strengthen us and make us more like him in his values and his love….. so..Jesus is food and strength for the whole world…. the symbol of his “first cot”… reminds us of what is to come…..
finally…. one child mentions that Jesus was born and that he later saves us by his suffering on the cross… how brilliant… a prep child has picked up the whole message of Christmas… Jesus came into the world to share all our joys and our sorrows and to even take on our suffering and suffer for us .. even on the cross…. and this is why Christmas is the time when our salvation has dawned… its so beautiful…. thanks to those prep children for this special message… and their insights…
The miracle and the beauty of Christmas, from that first Christmas and right through to this year, (2008), is that God is with us… (Jesus birth means that God is so interested in our lives that God comes into our world and becomes one of us…. to share in the successes of our lives… and also the disasters….….. God is with us, in our joys and in our deep sorrows…. in health and in illness…… God loved the world so much that he sent his only son that we might be saved through him. “Christmas is about celebrating the importance of “being with” each-other and with God…
So, to everyone this Christmas. I pray that this is a time of enjoying “being WITH each other”….. and saying thanks to each other.. family, friends, colleagues, for the gift of their support, company, friendship and love…. and
May this be a truly and deeply peace-filled time, no matter what is going on in our lives…. because this season is about how we can support and strengthen and accompany each other through the best and worst that life has to offer….. Inspired by the God who loved this world and everyone in it, such that he wanted to become one like us… to share everything with us….. so that we might always know that love and ‘being with’ others is something that overcomes so many obstacles and fears.
Have a blessed Christmas as you share this time of “being with and giving thanks for the ones you love.”
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I was standing in line at a petrol station the other day when the bloke in front of me said that he had just lost his job due to the economic downturn. A wave of shock and astonishment flooded over everyone standing in that shop, as he said “and I just got my car done up too, I should have known.” I really felt for that guy, as he prepared for an unexpected Christmas. The financial crisis that has been so devastating across the world comes home to you in ways like that encounter in the petrol station.
The message of Christmas is not truly a message of rose-coloured glasses. A lot of people feel quite sad and anxious at this time of year because they keep getting the message that this is a time of joy when things going on in their lives, their families, their work (or lack of work) and their friends might be anything BUT joyous.
But if we take a look at the first Christmas, we see that Christmas is really not about everything being rosy and happy. For the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the first Christmas was a complete disaster, (in many ways). You would not wish the circumstances on your worst enemy !
The first Christmas came at a time of incredible unrest for the people of
Mary and Joseph are forced to take a terribly arduous trip to
The poorest and lowliest “outcasts” in the society at that time, the shepherds, are the first to hear about the birth and come to pay their respects.
Very soon after the birth, Mary and Joseph must flee for their lives with their newly born baby Jesus, as King Herod is insanely jealous and means to kill him. They flee into exile into a foreign land.
The miracle and the beauty of Christmas, from that first Christmas and right through to this year, 2008, is that God is with us… in the disasters and the successes….. God is with us, in our joys and in our deep sorrows…. in health and in illness…… God loved the world so much that he sent his only son that we might be saved through him. For this we give heartfelt thanks, and show our gratefulness by the love and care we give to each-other and to all. God bless you all with peace and joy. Sincerely, Fr Paul.
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