Homily for
Christmas
December 25, 2019
The Crib and the
Cross
A
thousand years ago, a man named St. Anselm wrote a long book called “Cur Deus
Homo?” – “Why did God become man?” He said that God became man for one reason:
to save us. As we say in the Creed, it was “for us men and for our salvation”
that He came down from Heaven to take on flesh. God had to take on a human body
– because only a human body could die.
St. Paul
tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” When we sin, we turn our back on
God, Who is the Source of all life. Turning our back on God is to choose death.
We owed a debt of death that we could not pay back. Consider: back when we were
in school, if we punched a classmate, we would get in trouble. But if we
punched a teacher, we would get expelled. If we punched the President, we’d be
arrested. The same offense could merit different punishments based on who we
offend. But what would happen if we punched God? Strict justice would require
that, since we have offended the Most Holy, the All-Perfect One, we would
suffer the worst penalty – physical and spiritual death.
But God
did not want us to die. He said to Himself, “I love them too much! I cannot
allow My children to die – I will pay the price for their sins; I will take
their death upon Myself.” But God could not do that as God – since it is impossible for God Himself to die. So He had
to take on flesh so that He would have a body to sacrifice back to the Father.
I wonder
if Mary ever looked at those tiny hands in the manger, and saw that they would
be pierced with nails? Did she ever kiss His forehead, thinking that it would
be crowned with thorns? When she wiped His face, did she know it would one day
be covered in blood and spittle? When she would hear His little heart beating,
how could she know it would be pierced with a lance?
The crib
only makes sense in light of the Cross. He was born – so that He might die, for
us men and for our salvation. Even our Christmas carols bear witness to it.
Most people don’t sing the original second verse of “What Child is This” but it
contains the powerful words: “Nail, spear shall pierce Him through; the Cross
be borne for me and you.” We often skip the third verse of “Joy to the World”:
“No more shall sin or sorrows grow, or thorns infest the ground.” Powerful
words, reminding us why He came – to save us from sin and death!
Listen
to what St. Thomas Becket said, only four days before his own martyrdom: “Whenever
Mass is said, we re-enact the passion and death of Our Lord. And on this
Christmas Day, we do this in celebration of his birth, so that at the same
moment we rejoice in his coming for the salvation of men, we offer again to God
his body and blood in sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the
whole world. Who in the world will both mourn and rejoice at once and for the
same reason? It is only in these our Christmas Mysteries that we can rejoice
and mourn at once for the same reason.”
Christmas
can be a time of great sentimentality: Bing Crosby and Christmas cookies,
presents and lights and trees and fun childhood traditions. But God-becoming-man
is not mere warm-fuzzies: it demands a response.
The
response is to repent of our sins and making Jesus Lord of our entire lives.
God took on flesh to save us – but He will not save us without our consent. As
St. Augustine said, “God created us without us, but He will not save us without
us.” His saving birth and death are useless unless we love Him in return by
giving up our sins, praying daily and coming to Mass weekly, and seeking to
glorify Him in our everyday lives.
The
first nativity scene was organized by St. Francis of Assisi, who wanted to
re-create the scene of the nativity in Italy. But this followed upon another
powerful scene from the life of St. Francis. One day he went missing, and his
religious brothers could not find him. After searching for a couple days, they
found him in the forest with tears streaming down his face, crying out again
and again, “Love is not loved! Love is not loved!”
Every
Christmas we see the love of God, who was willing to go to any length to love
us and save us – even to taking on a human body so that He could pay back the
debt of death that we owed. What
love! This love demands a response – repentance and following the Lord Jesus.
From the
realms of starry wonder, He descends, the God most high.
To
assume a lowly body, all His glory He hides:
For
here, upon the manger, lies the God who was destined to die.
No comments:
Post a Comment