Sermon by Father Alex McAllister SDS    Index

Christmas Midnight Mass—2003 Homily

One year at Christmas time I visited a family in Stanmore which is a largely Jewish neighbourhood. The lady told me how that morning she was loudly awakened by a dustbin man who was looking for his Christmas gift. When she gave the man 50 pence he complained that it wasn’t very much considering all the extra work he had to do at Christmas. The lady was rather taken aback and sharply replied that there was practically no extra work since she was the single Christian living in the entire street. The only other people who seemed to be celebrating Christmas were the Hindu family next door who had a small tree in their window. So the dustbin man went off with a flea in his ear.

I tell you this story not because those Jewish families in Stanmore weren’t celebrating Christmas but because the Hindu family next door was. And actually it is quite remarkable that all over the world you can find Christmas being celebrated in one form or another. Perhaps not in strongly Muslim countries, but certainly in places like India and Japan which have only small Christian populations.

You might say that this is because in our modern world Christmas has become a commercial opportunity for shopkeepers and big business to make money. You might be right; surely commerce knows that it is on to a winner because of all that Christmas represents. All the important symbols are there which tap into our emotions. They use this emotional response to get into your pockets.

I don’t say that this is altogether a bad thing because in a subtle way it serves us Christians. It helps to make Christianity more widely known. There are parts of the world where Christ would not be known except through the commercial promotion of Christmas.

What are these elements which tap into our emotions? There is the child, of course, but he is no mere child. He is Christ the Lord, our Divine Saviour, he works wonders, he heals us; he saves us from sin. There is the virgin mother and the loving foster father, and these are certainly two very strong archetypal symbols.

There are angels who are always a source of wonder, heavenly guardians protecting us and proclaiming God’s glory. There are the simple shepherds tending their flocks with I imagine it is not difficult for us to identify with. Then there are the three wise men, kings from the east bearing symbolic and expensive gifts. They perhaps signify what we would like to become. Then, of course, there are the dumb beasts who in their own way acknowledge the presence of Christ.

All these rich symbolic elements come together in the Christmas story. But of course it is no mere story, no simple fable. These things took place. The Son of God was born into this world on that first Christmas day. It really happened, it is an acknowledged historical event. And what it led to was the most important occurrence in all of history, the death and resurrection of Christ and the salvation of mankind.

The birth of Christ is proclaimed by Christians in our churches and in our pulpits. It is proclaimed in our masses and sermons. It is proclaimed in our carols and songs. It is proclaimed in our exchange of Christmas cards and gifts and the decorating of trees. It is proclaimed in all the wonderful stories and fables woven around the bare facts of the historical circumstances of Christ’s birth. It is also proclaimed by the countless Santas in children’s parties and in shops. It is proclaimed even by the commercialisation and exploitation that goes on at Christmas.

The birth of Christ is such an astounding event and its impact so far reaching that we ourselves are incapable of doing it full justice. It is a story that spreads itself. And it is through hearing this story that Christ himself becomes known to the millions who did not yet hear of him.

The message of the angels, ‘peace to all mankind;’ the message of the fully grown Christ ‘I come to bring the good news to the poor;’ the message of the Father, ‘this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased’; the message of the Apostles, ‘to whom else shall we go, you have the message of eternal life.’ People know about the baby Jesus at Christmas but this is the rest of the story.

The job we now face as Christians is to make the rest of the story known. Commerce has taken our message to the ends of the earth but it is up to us to fill in the details. It is up to us to give the full story.

Each in our own way we have to fulfil this task. It might be simply by demonstrating honesty in our business dealings as a consequence of our faith. It might be the witness to our neighbours of our regular attendance at Church. It might be sticking up for someone who is victimised. It might be the time we spend in prayer for others. It might be our work for justice and peace. It might be correcting error. It might be our work for the poor of the world. It might be singing the praise of God in the choir. And you can think of a hundred other ways of proclaiming Christ to the world. This is what we as individuals and as a community have to do.

This is what Christmas means to us. It means living out to the fullest extent possible our Christian belief that this tiny child is the Son of God, our Saviour and Redeemer who needs to be made known to the whole world.

May God bless you all this Christmas day. May he fill your lives with his love and joy and may he reign in your hearts all the days of your life.