Sunday: Christmas Mass at Dawn Date: December 25, 2001 Year: A The readings: [Is. 62:11-2; Tit. 3:4-7; Lk. 2:15-20] The message: The shepherds went with haste. Prepared by: CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY Total words: 1110 |
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The shepherds "went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger." [Lk. 2:16] On that day, joy came to the world. The birth of Christ was celebrated for the first time under the heavenly stars. It was not until after the death of Jesus that the celebration of the birth of Christ during the Holy Mass had its origin. That special Feast was called "Christmas," meaning the celebration of Christ during the Mass.
During today's First Reading from the Book of Isaiah, [Is. 62:11-2] we heard of God's promise of the coming salvation through the great prophet Isaiah. This same promise is found in Isaiah 40:10 and Revelation 22:12. "See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone's work." [Rev. 22:12] While the promise of salvation is made to the daughter Zion, its meaning is symbolic. Zion represents the Church that was to come, composed of God's chosen people who for centuries had awaited the coming of the Messiah.
Through faith in Jesus and the Sacrament of Baptism, believers are admitted into the Holy Catholic Church, the Sacred Body of Christ. Therefore, the faithful, God's children, qualify to be called "The Holy People,"and "the Redeemed of the Lord." The Church is "Sought Out" by those who seek the truth, the way and the life. [Jn. 14:6] The mystical Body of Christ that embraces the spiritual Kingdom of God and its physical reflection, the Holy Catholic Church, is a "City Not Forsaken." As Jesus said, "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." [Mt. 28:20]
Before Jesus came into the world, mankind was "foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing its days in malice and envy, despicable, the people hating one another." [Tit. 3:3] But "When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." [Tit. 3:4-5]
The goodness and loving kindness of God has saved us! Before Jesus came, we were all in the same deplorable state. We did not have a living hope of being saved. But our loving and merciful Jesus has changed all that!
In the Gospel of John, we read, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit." [Jn. 3:5] Through the Sacrament of Baptism, "the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit," [Tit. 3:5] we have been born again of the seed of God. [1 Jn. 3:9]
"Therefore we have been buried with Jesus by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." [Rom. 6:4] "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything old has come new!" [2 Cor. 5:17] "The new creation is everything." [Gal. 6:15]
Through the Sacrament of Baptism, "God made us alive together with Him, when He forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross." [Col. 2:13-4] Indeed, the Holy Spirit has been poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. [Tit. 3:6; Rom. 5:5; Acts 2:17]
Having been justified by the grace of God, we now qualify to become heirs according to the hope of eternal life [Tit. 1:7] in accordance with the promise that God, who never lies, made before the ages began. [Tit. 1:2] "So (we) are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God." [Gal. 4:7]
When the shepherds rushed to Bethlehem to see what had taken place, what the Lord had made known to them, they could never have imagined the mystery of the Holy Church that would be instituted through the Infant Child who was laying in the manger. After all, God's chosen people wrongly perceived their salvation to come through a worldly kingdom. Jesus said that His Kingdom was not of this world.
So there in the manger was the promised Child, the Saviour to be, God incarnated. In Baby Jesus, "the fullness of God was pleased to dwell bodily." [Col. 1:19, 2:9] How beautiful is the mystery of the incarnation.
Jesus did not come into this world as a King. Nor did He leave our world as a King who was ruling on His Throne. He arrived in poverty and when He left, He was murdered after having been treated like a criminal. While Jesus knew what future awaited Him, He accepted to carry the heavy cross for the sins of the world, including our sins.
When the shepherds found the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus lying in the manger, they told them what the angels had said about the future of Jesus. All who heard it, they were amazed. The Blessed Virgin Mary treasured all those words and pondered them in her heart. Surrounded by the shepherds who were instruments of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary watched the progressive Divine Plan of God unravel itself before her eyes. First the Virgin birth, this followed by the words of Elizabeth [Lk. 1:39-45] and the angel appearing to Saint Joseph. [Mt. 1:18-25] This was the beginning of a spiritual journey that no one could have foreseen its end, not even Mary who was blessed among all women. [Lk. 1:42]
When the shepherd left, they glorified and praised God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. [Lk. 2:20] The glorifying and praising of God has never stopped since those days. Today, following the footsteps of the shepherd who went with haste, all you faithful have gathered here in haste as a faith community to glorify and praise God for what He has done for us through Jesus Christ.
Our celebration of the birth of Jesus is a reminder that God has not forgotten us. It is a reminder of how much God loves us. It is a reminder that God has reached down to us so we in turn may reach up to Him with praises and glory in thanksgiving for our salvation. Indeed, we have not been forsaken by God.
Now that all the faithful have arrived in haste, let us continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass to commemorate the beautiful birthday of Jesus by echoing songs of glory and praise to our Lord Jesus in the spirit of joy and peace.
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The readings...
[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]
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First Reading...
"The Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: 'Say to daughter Zion, See, your salvation comes; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
They shall be called 'The Holy People,' 'The Redeemed of the Lord'; and you shall be called 'Sought Out,' 'A City Not Forsaken.'" [Is. 62:11-2]
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Second Reading...
"When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." [Tit. 3:4-7]
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Gospel Reading...
"When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.'
So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them." [Lk. 2:15-20]
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