I am glad to be here this evening to celebrate with you my first Christmas as a priest. We come here together to celebrate one of highest mysteries of our faith. We may ask ourselves, “Why did God come as a man to us?” And there are many answers to this question. But, the one that I think best fits this Christmas season is that it is hard to love something unless you can wrap your arms around it. God desired to love and to be loved and therefore there is nothing more fitting for him to become than a little child. I think that’s why the most popular images I see on the internet are of children and of cats: because they are so adorable. But, if Jesus came as a cat, that certainly would have given the wrong message! 

Yet, this child comes amid controversy and scandal. as the prophet Simeon called him at his presentation, this child is destined to be a sign of contradiction. As we read in the Gospel this evening, he was the result of a miraculous conception by the power of the Holy Spirit. But, this was not understood by even St. Joseph who was willing to divorce Blessed Mary because of the scandal of his betrothed being pregnant. It was only through the direct intercession of an angel that he did not. Then later in life this child would be a sign of contradiction to the religious leaders of the day by claiming that he himself was God. And lastly, this child was a challenge to the rulers of the day who did not understand that he did not come to rule as a political ruler but in the hearts of all men.

To the world, power comes through violence and so when men such as Herod hears that a new king is being born in Bethlehem, he immediately fears the loss of his power and wants to put an end to any rival. We can see a similar claim being made just by the use of the term, “gospel,” which before the Christian era literally referred to the good news of Emperors victorious in battle. In many ways, Christianity is a challenge to any worldly power because Christianity teaches that God has a will for humanity and that the state is not supremely powerful. Yet, Christians do not win converts or show their power through violence. (And when they do, it’s usually far from successful or lasting.) Instead, Christian shows that love is more powerful than violence and have overcome the power of great men though love. This child who is born is love-in-person and desires our love in return.

What is so controversial about this child? By any worldly standard, this child has nothing and is no harm to anyone. He is too young even to defend himself. His parents came too late to be admitted to an inn. His bed is a trough where animals eat. Yet, everyone admits that there must be something miraculous about this child. His birth was announced by an archangel. Shepherds come to the manger in claiming that they saw an army of angels in the sky who told them to come there. Even later, wise men from the East would come after following a star. This child is the hope of all the world.

The truth of the matter is that this child that cannot speak is somehow the Word of God. The perfect image that shows this reality is one you find in some Churches: sometimes the infant Jesus is portrayed as holding a little ball. This ball represents the whole world and the child is able to hold it as if it were a tiny toy. He cannot even life himself, yet he holds the whole world in his tiny fingers. He cannot reach further than his manger, yet he can hold all things in existence. His love sustains all things, yet he came in the must needy and helpless state ever. He is God Almighty, who is not afraid to submit to the authority of loving parents. We see in this a new answer to why God was made incarnate, he wished to assume all the limitations that come with being human: all of our weaknesses. This is truly a God who humbles himself in a most unexpected way! 

Does he gain anything by becoming human? One of the privileges I have in my priesthood is teaching in the school and in the RCIA program and this forces me to reread the catechism over the course of the year in order to refresh my memory of the faith. One particular concept stuff out to me that I would like to share with you all. Jesus Christ loves us with a human heart. (CCC 478) Is it possible to grasp the profundity of these words? It is easy to think of a God who loves us even if we do not know him and he is up in heaven somewhere. But, Christ when he becomes a human beings enters a relationship with his and will each of our own good. This means he loves each an every person individually and would sacrifice himself for any one of us at his passion. So, by becoming human he gains the ability to stand for us in judgment and to redeem us all from our sin because he loves us. 

This little child truly is God-with-us, Emmanuel. In this child rests all our hopes and it is through him the world shall be redeemed. In his own time the world rejected him at birth and reject him at death. And we can see in their exaggerated reactions that there is something wrong with the world. But, he comes to share his divine life with us. This child will grow to be a man so that we can be like little children to God. God became man some that we can become like God and share in his divine life. These are the mysteries we celebrate at this great solemnity of Christmas. 

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