Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009

Do not be afraid for I bring you Good News of great joy

The angel of Christmas spoke those words to a group of frightened, lonely and impoverished shepherds some two thousand years ago. He also speaks these same words to all people every where this night. He speaks these words to each of us.

Do not be afraid. Despite the circumstances of life, do not be afraid. In the midst of so much frustration and confusion and bad news there is good news. It is not only good, it is the most amazingly best news the world has ever heard. This news is so magnificent that is brings forth joy to all who choose to hear it and to receive it.

That is why the Holy Spirit made sure the Blessed Virgin Mary remembered the circumstances of that night. Holy Mother Mary kept all of these reports and experiences in her living memory and told them to Luke, a young Greek physician who would eventually write down all Mary remembered of that night.

The stories we have of that first Christmas night come from the careful attention to detail that the Holy Spirit gave to Mary. The stories are real, grounded in history, substantiated by history and yet transcend history. For the stories of Jesus’ birth speak across time to all people everywhere.

The great good news of Christmas is the news that God is real, God is personal, God is love, God is Jesus Christ. At a very specific moment in history in a very specific place in a very specific person God became a human being.

In the birth of Jesus Christ God permanently and irrevocably united His divinity with our humanity. What was lost is now found in Jesus Christ. What was broken is now made whole in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ God speaks to all people everywhere with the words: I will never leave you or forsake you.

In the babe of Bethlehem there is no judgment. There is no condemnation. There is the fulness of acceptance. There is the abundance of eternal love.

At Christmas we remember that the co-eternal Son of God the Father emptied himself of his power and prerogatives to become a helpless infant. Jesus entered the world as we enter the world. Jesus entered the world as a struggling helpless infant so he could experience life as we experience life. He also entered the world to give us the gift of eternal love.

Eternal love has no beginning and it has no ending. Jesus offers himself to us fully and completely and says; Come. Receive the gift. Receive the blessing. I became as you are so that you might become as I am. Eternally beloved of the Father. Eternally filled with life in the Holy Spirit.

Once a year we remember that God the Father sent His Son into the world. There is no condemnation in that visit. There is no judgment. There is no demand. There is only the love of the Triune God reaching out to all people everywhere with the message of unconditional love and acceptance.

The choice is ours. God imposes himself on no one. He offers himself in Jesus Christ to everyone. The Good News that brings great joy to all people is the love of God in Jesus Christ. That love is eternal. That love is a gift to all who choose to receive it.
Rejoice with Holy Mother Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the Magi and the angels. The Good News of Christmas is God’s unconditional love in Jesus Christ.