Homily: The Nativity of the Lord – At the Vigil Mass
Anyone here remember geometry
class in high school? Anyone here still
in geometry class? It’s been more than
25 years since I’ve taken that high school geometry class and I can’t say that
I remember many of the specifics of what we learned in that class. One thing about that class that I do remember,
however, is writing all of those “proofs”.
Remember those? Geometry class
was all about defining shapes; and the way that you learn to define shapes is
by learning the fundamental characteristics of shapes and then using those
fundamental characteristics to “prove” that a particular shape is a certain
kind of shape. For example: a shape is a
rectangle when each of its four angles measures 90 degrees, when it meets the
criteria for being a parallelogram, and when its sides are of different
lengths. To prove that a particular
shape is a rectangle, you would have to write sentences demonstrating that this
particular shape meets all of the criteria of being a rectangle. I remember the whole process being rather
tedious. What I didn’t realize at the
time, however, was that this was my first informal lesson in logic.
I wouldn’t recognize that,
however, until I took my first lessons in philosophy in the seminary, more than
12 years after my high school geometry class.
There, I was taught the fundamentals of logic and that all philosophy is
rooted in the fundamental rules of logic, meaning: that any conclusion you draw
must be supported by valid premises—that is, axioms that are true for
everybody—which add up to the conclusion that you propose. “Philosophy is like mathematics!” I thought
to myself at the time. Looking back, however,
I can see that I had it backwards: that mathematics, rather, is philosophy, in
the sense that it is philosophy—the search for wisdom—regarding numerical
things. But I digress...
So why all of this talk of
“logic” and “proofs”? Well, it’s because
today we come to begin our celebration of the birth of Jesus—the Christ, the
one promised to us by God since Adam and Eve’s sin—who would come to save us from
sin and everlasting death. And what we
hear in our scripture readings today are the “proofs” that Jesus is the
“Promised One”.
In the reading from the book
of Isaiah, we heard him say that God would come to vindicate his people from
their enemies (meaning, in that case, that he would free them from exile and
restore them in their homeland) and that God would, thus, “espouse” his chosen
people. In other words, God would form a
covenant with them and be committed to them as a husband is to his wife. In the New Testament, Saint Paul often
describes Christ as the bridegroom that has come to marry his bride, the
Church. Thus, Isaiah’s prophecy is a
“proof” that Jesus is the “Promised One”.
In the second reading Saint
Paul, in giving testimony in the synagogue in Antioch, recalls how God promised
to raise up one from the lineage of King David, the great Israelite king, to be
the “Promised One” who would save humanity from sin and death. And Saint Matthew, in giving us this
genealogy of Jesus, shows us that Jesus is of David’s royal lineage. Thus, we have another “proof” that Jesus is
the “Promised One” who would “strike at the head” of the serpent who led Adam
and Eve into sin.
And so, why is this so
important to remember today? Well,
because Isaiah prophesied a “vindication” for God’s people: that is, an end to
strife and a new dawn of peace and victory over the enemies of God’s
people. But when we look around, here
today, what do we see? Not an end to
strife, but rather an increase of it! The
daily stress of the pandemic has put us all on edge, making it so that just
about anything that triggers a negative emotional response has been magnified
tenfold, it seems, leading to greater division, animosity, and social distrust
than has been seen in a generation, at least.
Nevertheless, by coming here
tonight, we declare that, contrary to what the world is telling us, Christ is
the vindicator that we have been waiting for!
Thus, we celebrate his birth.
Because, by being born, Jesus made present the salvation promised to us
for so many centuries.
If, however, for whatever
reason, this is not the reason why you are here tonight, then let me invite you
to make it your reason. Friends,
whatever is going on in the world or in your life right now, Jesus—and
particularly Jesus, the Christ Child—is the answer to whatever may be missing
in it. He is the one promised to come
and lead us out of our sorrow, pain, and suffering, and back into Eden: that
place of harmony with God, with creation, with other people, and with
ourselves. If you are here tonight,
regardless of the reason that you think that you are here, you are here because
God desires you to receive this gift.
The proof? Over 600 years before
Jesus was born, Isaiah predicted that, as a sign, a virgin would give birth to
a son and that he would be called Emmanuel, which means “God with us”. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the
womb of the Virgin Mary, thus verifying that he is of divine origin, not
human. Therefore, Jesus is the “Son of
God”—God, himself—and, thus, “Emmanuel”: literally, God with us. And he is more than God with us. Rather he is Jesus—Yeshua, in Hebrew, meaning
“Yahweh saves”. He, my brothers and
sisters, is God with us, yes; but, more than that, he is the salvation that we
all need.
Friends, tonight and tomorrow
and over the next three weeks let’s try to see beyond the presents, the
cookies, the egg nog, and the ham, and see the reason why we celebrate: that
Yeshua HaMashiac—Jesus, the Anointed One of God—our salvation, has come to us. And let us be ready to say to people
something more than “Merry Christmas”.
Rather, let us be ready to say, “May Christ be with us”, and then be
ready to prove that he truly is with us by the love, care, and compassion that
we show to everyone, even (and especially) in the midst of these distressing
times. In this way, we will truly adore
him. In this way, we will truly
celebrate Christmas.
Given at Saint Joan of Arc parish: Kokomo, IN – December 24th,
2020
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