Why Christmas Changes Everything
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Keep Celebrating, Christmas Isn’t Over!
Christmas Reflection – Part 3 of 3
Emmanuel – God is with us!by Joe Cady
Well, this is it – the last day of Christmas! Time to wear that ugly sweater and listen to “Jingle Bell Rock” one last time, and then put it all away until next year. The Christmas season officially ends with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. And yet, in some ways this feast beautifully captures the joy and good news of Christmas – that God has come to us, that his dwelling is with the human race, and that he has entered into our brokenness in order to heal us and draw us to himself.
In the Gospel today, we have the shocking scene of Jesus, the Savior and Messiah, coming to John to be baptized… standing in line with those who were acknowledging their sin and committing themselves to change and conversion. Imagine this… it would be like you coming to church one day for confession, and then suddenly Jesus shows up and gets in line right behind you. What is he doing there? Certainly, Jesus is in no need of conversion or repentance, and yet he demonstrates that the very purpose of his coming was to draw near to sinners. To enter into the sin and darkness of the world in order to heal and transform it.
In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ conception and birth, he cites a prophecy of Isaiah which says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us.” This has always been one of my favorite titles for Jesus because it speaks to such a profound and beautiful truth – Jesus is truly God with us. The God of the universe, the Lord of all and Creator of heaven and earth, has chosen to make his dwelling with us, to become like us so that we might become like him. In the early Church, St. Irenaeus put it this way, “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.”
God chose to empty himself and assume our nature so that he might elevate us to share in his own divine life. This is what makes Christmas a time of “Joy to the World.” It is the time of year that we remember and celebrate that through Jesus Christ, humanity and divinity have been brought together as one – “and all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2 Cor 5:18). In Jesus, God is truly with us in a most intimate and personal way.
Why has God done this? Because he is good. What makes the good news so GOOD, is that “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). God demonstrates once and for all that his desire is to be in union with us, that his will is to save and redeem us, not to condemn us. As Jesus himself said, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:17). Emmanuel is not just a name for Jesus but the revelation of the will of the Father – a Father who stops at nothing to draw us back to himself, a Father who is willing to reach as far as we have strayed in order to restore us to life. Why? Because God’s will for us is life – it’s always been life. As was spoken years prior through the prophet Ezekiel, God “takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live” (Ez 33:11).
In today’s Gospel, we see clearly on display that while sin hinders us in our ability to experience God’s life, God is willing and able to plunge into the very heart of sin in order to rescue and heal
us. Jesus is truly Emmanuel – God with us. He has drawn near to us, and he invites us to turn to him and live. And when we do, when we turn from sin and embrace the Gospel, we too share in the life and goodness of divine sonship. So much so that God’s words to Jesus become spoken to us as well, “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.” Let us never forget who we are, beloved sons and daughters of God. And let us live us such a way that others also come to see and understand their dignity as children of God.
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Christmas Reflection – Part 2 of 3by Joe Cady
One of the things I love about being Catholic is that when it’s time to celebrate, we really celebrate. For most of the world, Christmas is a just a day; but for us, we set aside several weeks to celebrate the Lord’s birth and the fulfillment of God’s plan to reconcile us to himself through his Son, Jesus Christ. While for most people the Christmas/holiday season begins sometime in November (with lights, parties, Christmas music, and shopping) Christians are celebrating Advent in the weeks leading up to Christmas. And while for many people the fun stops on Dec 26, for Catholics, the party is just getting started. This is one of the great things about Catholicism, while we take very seriously the need to set aside time to pray and repent and take inventory of our spiritual progress (such as during Advent and Lent), we also place great importance on the need to rejoice, feast, and celebrate the great things God has done for us (such as during the seasons of Christmas and Easter).
For us, Christmas is much more than just a day. It is a season of several weeks that continues until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord (this year, on Jan 9). And during this time, it is good for us to go out of our way to celebrate and continue to live in the joy of new life that Christmas brings. Keep your tree up and your lights lit. Keep those Christmas songs playing. Keep having dessert and giving gifts. Rejoice and be glad, because, as we hear in the first reading today, “upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory.”
Of course, rejoicing can be difficult in challenging times. There is much today that threatens to steal our joy and take away our peace. But to live in the joy of the Gospel is not so much about what we feel but what we know to be true. And this is precisely what makes the good news of Christmas so amazing. 2000 years ago, at a time when God’s promise of salvation seemed all but impossible to become a reality, light broke through the darkness and the “good news” of God’s kingdom began to echo throughout the world. Here was this little baby, weak and vulnerable, who by his life, death, and resurrection would overcome the power of sin and darkness and establish us once again in union and friendship with God. This is what Christmas has brought about: the salvation and restoration of the world. Because of Jesus, we now know once and for all that “nothing will separate us from the love of God.”
We continue to rejoice because God is with us, because he loves us, because there is no darkness that can overcome the light. We continue to celebrate because the truth of the Good News is greater than the sin and brokenness of the world. We choose to live in joy not because we are naïve or blind to what is happening in the world, but because we know that there is an answer and solution to it. And that answer is Jesus. “Thanks to him, by means of him and in light of him every reality…can be brought to its Supreme Good, to its fulfillment” (CSD 170). This is why we celebrate! This is why the party is still going! Let us decide today to let our lives be built on the joy of the Gospel and to bear witness to the Good News of Christmas in our daily lives. Let us pray that our joy would be a means by which all people come to know that Jesus is truly Emanual, God with us. Merry Christmas!
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Christmas Reflection – Part 1 of 3 by Joe Cady
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
Unlike any other holiday, there is something about Christmas that captures our hearts and enlivens our imaginations. Whether it’s the excitement of giving and receiving gifts, the parties with family and friends, the yummy food and sweet desserts, or just the anticipation of the closing of one year and the new hope offered by the next… there is just something unique about Christmas time. Even for those who may not think much of the religious side of Christmas, there is still an excitement and magic to Christmas that makes it truly feel like “the most wonderful time of the year.” And that’s because it is! But the reason for this is bigger than presents, or parties, or cookies and egg nog… it’s because this time is inseparably connected to something that actually happened two-thousand years ago that forever changed human history. On this day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the one sent by the Father to reveal once and for all that “God is with us to free us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to life eternal” (Dei Verbum, 4). In the Gospel of Luke, the news of this event is announced by angels with these words: “I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord (Luke 2:10-11).
The birth of Jesus is “good news of great joy” – why? Because Jesus’ birth changes everything. Jesus is the eternal Son of the Father who has come to dwell among us, He is the great King who has come to build us up as a kingdom of peace, love, and justice, he is Emmanuel, God with us, the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to draw us back to himself and restore in us our ability to experience the life and love for which we were made. Because of Jesus, “the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen” (Mt 4:16). Christmas changes everything because in Jesus God’s saving mission to reunite humanity and divinity has been realized. In Jesus, God has humbled himself to share in our humanity so that through him we might share in the life and love of God. Through the incarnation (the eternal Son of God taking on humanity and dwelling among us in human form) God has mysteriously united himself to every person, at all times and in all places, and he never ceases to draw us to himself.
This invitation to new life continues to resound in the depths of every heart. As St. Augustine famously said, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” It is this interior draw to the God for whom we were made that lies at the heart of what makes Christmas the most wonderful time of the year. Behind all the joy, anticipation, and hope of the Christmas season is a desire to love and be loved by the God who made us. My prayer is that as we celebrate Christmas this year, all of us would come to see and remember that Jesus is the light of the world, a light that no darkness can overcome (Jn 1:1-9); that in Jesus God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting our trespasses against us (2 Cor 5:17-20); and that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, so that whoever believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life (Jn 3:16). Because of Jesus, life, love, and goodness have won. Regardless of what life may throw our way, we can ground our lives in the good news of Jesus Christ. Let us decide today, and everyday, to place our trust in the God who stops at nothing to draw us close to himself. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).