Dec. 25, 2017: Christmas
Dec. 25, 2017: Christmas B
The children at our Christmas program sang a very touching song titled, “Happy birthday, Jesus.” “Happy birthday, Jesus / I’m so glad it’s Christmas / All the tinsel and lights / And the presents are nice / But the real gift is you.” This song speaks about how we are all glad about the Christmas festivities, decorations, carols, and presents, yet the real gift to us is the Christ Child and that our gift to him is our love and affection. Pope Francis reminded us of what Christmas truly means when he said, “God never gives someone a gift they are not capable of receiving. If he gives us the gift of Christmas it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it... For me Christmas has always been about this: contemplating the visit of God to his people.”
This evening (day) we kneel before the Baby in the Manger in praise and thanksgiving to the Son of infinite love and mercy. Christ, the Son of God and the Second Person of the Trinity, took to himself our lowly human nature and became one of us in order to raise us up to the dignity of adopted sons of his Heavenly Father. It’s staggering to ponder how the infinite, all-perfect God should bother with such imperfect, lowly creatures. As the Psalm reads, “What is man that God should be mindful of him?” What have we done or what could we ever do to merit such love, such mercy, and such humility on the part of God? No, we did not merit such love, but the infinitely unselfish generosity of God has done this.
We should imitate the humble shepherds who returned home glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen on the night of the birth of Christ Child. We return home after this mass, to our ordinary daily tasks, with renewed spiritual resolve to reject what is ungodly and worldly, and to live a truly Christian life to make God’s love for us known to all.
Let us listen again to the Good News of Jesus’ birth with our hearts of gratitude.
Mary's Boy Child By Jester Hairston
1. Long time ago in Bethlehem,
So the Holy Bible say,
Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ,
Was born on Christmas day,
Hark, now hear the angels sing,
A newborn King today,
And man will live forevermore,
Because of Christmas day.
Hark, now hear the angels sing,
A newborn King today,
And man will live forevermore,
Because of Christmas day.
2. While shepherds watch / their
flocks by night
They see a bright new shining star
They hear a choir sing a song,
the music seemed to come from
afar
3. Now, Joseph and his wife, Mary,
Come to bethlehem that night,
They found no place to bear her
child,
Not a single room was in sight.
4. By and by they find / alittle nook,
In a stable all forlorn,
And in a manger cold and dark,
Mary's little Boy was born!
Trumpets sound and angels sing,
Listen to what they say,
That Man will live forevermore,
Because of Christmas day.
https://youtu.be/mkq4AlQyIkA
