Christmas Homily 2024
Once
there was a wealthy man who had an only son. Tragically the son died young, and
in memory, the old man had a portrait of his son painted and hung in a
prominent place in the mansion. After the old man had passed away, since he had
no heirs, everything from his estate was put up for auction. And he had some
tremendous things: yachts, sports cars, golf clubs, gold watches, and so much
more.
The
auctioneer began the auction with the portrait of the wealthy man’s son. “Here
we have this portrait of Mr. Smith’s son. Who will begin the bidding?”
The room
echoed with silence. No one came for a picture of someone they didn’t know, and
the picture wasn’t particularly elegant or beautiful. No one raised their
paddle.
But the
auctioneer urged, “Come now, look at it. It is filled with such great memories
of a fine young man. Who will take it?”
Still no
one moved, and they were getting restless. Get to the good stuff! No more of
this portrait that no one wanted!
The
auctioneer began to beg, “I cannot move on until this piece is sold. Who is
willing to bid on it?”
Finally,
reluctantly, a man raised his paddle in the back and said, “Twenty dollars.”
“Twenty
dollars, going once,” – and the crowd was looking bored – “going twice, sold!”
The auctioneer then began to pack up his things, and announced to the crowd,
“This auction is now over. Mr. Smith’s will stipulated that whoever would take
the son will inherit everything else – the mansion, the wealth, the riches.”
Everyone was shocked – especially the man who had won billions of dollars with
only a twenty-dollar bid!
If you
accept the Son, you will inherit everything. In Scripture it says that “no eye
has seen, no ear has heard, nor has the mind of man ever conceived what God has
prepared for those who love Him.” If we welcome the Son, we inherit everything.
The
early Church Fathers spoke about the two “comings of Christ”. Christ came two
thousand years ago in a manger in Bethlehem. But He will also come again at the
end of time, not as a baby but as a majestic King and Judge of the Living and
the Dead. The reason why He came in Bethlehem was to bring us grace, and grace
makes us ready for His Second Coming. But grace only dwells in a soul who has
welcomed Christ into it.
When I
say that we must “welcome Christ”, it’s not an ambiguous idea. We can
concretely know if we have welcomed Christ into our lives. We welcome Christ’s
grace at our baptisms, we grow in His interior presence through the Eucharist
and daily prayer, we lose His presence through serious sin, and we restore His
presence through Confession. So we have not yet accepted Christ if we do not
have a life of daily prayer, Sunday Mass, and are striving to live like Christ.
Do not
make His first coming in the manger of Bethlehem ineffective! He came down from
Heaven to bring us the gift of grace – God’s divine life within us - so do not
spurn such a gift when it comes to us in the Scriptures, in the Eucharist, in
the Sacraments!
In His
first coming, the inn had no room for Him – does your schedule allow you to
have room for Him in your week? In His first coming, He was a poor, shivering
baby – do we see Christ in His distressing disguise of the poor? In His first
coming, only the poor shepherds recognized Him – are we willing to humble
ourselves, lay aside our egos, and recognize our desperate dependence upon Him?
In His first coming, wise men traveled great distances and gave great gifts to
the Lord – are we willing to offer Christ the gift of our whole life?
We often
sing that Christmas song, “I wish every day was like Christmas” – but while it
would probably be odd to drink eggnog in July, the reason for Christmas
– the gift of Christ’s grace – is entirely within reach every day of our lives.
I close with a beautiful prayer of St. Theresa of Avila, who wrote this
Christmas prayer of longing for Christ’s First Coming to help her prepare for
His Second Coming:
“I
wish to prepare for Your coming with the burning desires of the prophets and
the just who in the Old Testament sighed after You, the one Savior and
Redeemer. ‘O Lord, send Him whom You are going to send… As you have promised,
come and deliver us!’
“I
want a continual longing and waiting for this great Mystery wherein You, O Word
became flesh to show me the abyss of your redeeming sanctifying mercy… Come, O
Lord, come! I, too wish to run to You with love, but alas! My love is so
limited, weak and imperfect! Make it strong and generous; enable me to overcome
myself, so that I can give myself entirely to You… What a consolation it will
be, O Lord, to think that we shall be judged by Him whom we have loved above
all things! Then we can enter Your presence with confidence!”
Only those
who have Christ’s grace within them have reaped the benefits of Christmas,
since he who has the Son has everything.
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