Homily for Christmas Mass: December 25, 2006

Given by the Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton.

The night was very still but the silence was broken with the angels singing: GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND ON EARTH PEACE TO THOSE ON WHOM HIS FAVOR RESTS. The celebration of Christmas is at one and the same time a heavenly and an earthly Feast. Our unfathomable God has entered into the human condition as a man in the person of Jesus. The Word became flesh and lived among us as one of us: true God and true man. The glory of God is Jesus Christ who came as the savior of all. The glory of God is all humanity redeemed. Peace is the gift of God that comes from salvation. Peace is profound harmony with God, with ourselves, with our neighbor and with the world. The Glory of God and Peace are of God and for us.

But the world we live in remains dark in cruelty and war; people are lost on the journey of life; greed predominates as a god; the earth is exploited; peoples continue to be hungry, oppressed and annihilated. The world is dark in sin. It is in this darkness that a great light has shown, a light for all peoples. The light is in the world, but as John’s gospel says: “He was in the world…. but the world did not know Him.”

On this great Feast the baptized gather in faith to celebrate Christ’s Mass in thanksgiving to God for the gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ comes as the Light of the world. Christ comes as the Just One of God. Christ comes as the King of Peace. Christ comes as the all merciful and compassionate God. Christ comes without portfolio, without wealth, without social standing. He comes only to do the will of God for our salvation. He is not for Himself. He is for us, and for our salvation. He is the Lord of Life. He is the Hope of the world. “Come to Me, all you who hunger and thirst, and I will refresh you.”

If we believe in Christ as the Hope of the world it is the beginning of our salvation. But belief alone is not enough. We become fully engaged in the celebration of Christmas only if we desire all that is good and right for the face of the earth and live in accord with the way of Christ. Our conduct must demonstrate a commitment to end all violence and wars, to eliminate poverty, to uphold human dignity and the sacredness of human life, but as Pope Paul VI said so well: If you want peace, work for justice. All is love, but love is empty without genuine commitment and hard work. So many today are in a quest for spirituality but they do not want religion. Religion, in particular, Christianity and the Catholic Church, with all its human side, offers us the way to know Jesus Christ. The Body of Christ in the world is the Church. It is the Church tonight (today) in her liturgy who gives birth again to Jesus Christ. It is a spiritual Nativity but a very real Christ who comes to us and into our world.
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND ON EARTH PEACE TO THOSE ON WHOM HIS FAVOR RESTS. Baptized into Christ and His Church, with great faith we desire to do only that which is of God. May our conduct reflect that we believe in Jesus Christ who has come as our Lord and Savior.

Last Update December 27, 2006