Christmas Message

About ten years back I was celebrating the Christmas Midnight Mass in one of the suburbs of Chennai. Every year when Christmas comes around, the thought of that Mass would cross my mind. This year too it is there fresh in my memory.

The church was overflowing and they were all dressed for the occasion. As the time for the homily drew near, I looked up at the audience and at the entrance to the church. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind and I began the homily with this question: “Friends, suppose Mary and Joseph of the original Christmas night were to walk into this church right now, what would happen? How would we feel?”

I could see a lot of smiles among the people… One of the ladies, as if speaking for the rest of them said, “Oh, what a joy! That would be the most meaningful Christmas we would have ever celebrated! It would be a great blessing indeed.” I told them not to be so quick in responding but, to think of that situation a little more deeply. I continued to explain the situation in detail… “Sure! We would be the happiest people on earth if we knew that the two persons entering our church were Mary and Joseph. But, none of us know that. They are simply two strangers in our neighbourhood. We have not seen them earlier. They have, perhaps, travelled for three to four days on a donkey or a mule. Their clothes are not clean, to say the least. They may not have had a wash. They are extremely tired. Above all, the lady is pregnant and is expecting the child any moment. Perhaps, she is already feeling the birth pangs. That is why the man, seeing a church close by, must have brought her in…”

As I was giving these details, their enthusiasm as well as their smiles vanished. There was a murmur. Most of them in that church were repatriates from a neighbouring country. Therefore they knew firsthand what it would be like to land in a strange place in a crisis situation. I continued with the homily trying to share with them my ideas of the first Christmas and how it was not that glorious as we celebrate it today.

After the Mass and in the subsequent years during Christmas Season this question would come back to me quite often… What would I have done if Mary and Joseph walked into the church where I was celebrating the Midnight Mass? Would I have stopped celebrating the Mass and helped the poor couple? I would have certainly done so, if … a BIG IF… IF I had known that they were Mary and Joseph and that Mary was about to give birth to Jesus, the only reason why we were gathered in the Church. What better place than a church for Jesus to be born! What a truly blessed Christmas Mass it would turn out to be!

All these are lovely holy thoughts… but, the reality would be different. Unfortunately, I would have been as ignorant as the people around the altar. Therefore, in all probability, I would have suggested some alternate place, an alternate solution for the poor couple and proceeded with the Midnight Mass. Neither I nor the people in the church could be faulted for our decisions. We simply did not know that real Christmas was going to happen among us!

The people of Bethlehem too did not know that during the first Christmas. That brings us to one of the key sentences in today’s Gospel … namely, “there was no place for them in the inn.” (Lk. 2: 7) This sentence usually makes us angry towards the people of Bethlehem, especially the inn-keeper, who refused a place for the birth of Jesus. IF they had known that the long-awaited Saviour was at their door, would they have refused a place? Most certainly not. If an angel with ‘a multitude of heavenly host’ had appeared before them and said: “Behold your Saviour!”, not only the people in the inn, but the whole of Bethlehem would have gathered around Mary and Joseph to give them and the New-born a royal welcome… The key words here are: if they had known… a BIG IF, indeed! The people of Bethlehem did not know them. The people and I in the suburb of Chennai would not have known them either. On the first Christmas night, God slipped into humanity in the quietest way possible and surprised all of us. While we keep looking for surprises under the Christmas Tree, God keeps surprising us in various other ways year after year.

This was not the only surprise that Jesus had in store. The most awaited message of thousands of years, namely, “Your Saviour is born” was given on this very same day, but not in the way the people of Israel had expected. This message was not trumpeted from the pinnacle of Jerusalem temple, but to the shepherds in the fields. Surprise, again! The shepherds as well as the message given to them are crucial to our reflection today.

Today’s Gospel begins with the solemn words… “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled… And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. (Lk. 2: 1, 3) If the whole world was to be enrolled, then why were the shepherds out in the field? Were they not to be enrolled? In all probability they were not counted among the human race. That is why they were there as part of the cattle. To them this great message was given.

The message given by the angel goes like this: “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (Lk. 2: 10-12)

Two groups of people mentioned in this message, set me thinking… The ‘you’ (meaning, the shepherds) and ‘all the people’ are contrasted. I would like to rephrase the message of the angel in the following words: “Don’t be afraid, my shepherds. I have brought good news of great joy meant for all the people. But, the people are too busy and pre-occupied with so many things to receive this news. Therefore I am bringing it to you. A Saviour is born for you and like you… on the fringes of human society. There was no place for him in the inn. A babe is lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. I am sure you will not miss the babe. I doubt whether the people would recognise a Saviour in this Babe. You would surely be able to recognise your Saviour easily.”

Here is an imaginary scene, but could well happen to any one of us… Daddy has come home for Christmas after five years. He has been abroad, working hard. He has brought so many gifts. Children are overjoyed and have begun to decorate the house and the crib with all fancy stuff Dad has brought. On Christmas night Dad is bringing Baby Jesus to place Him in the crib… But, the crib is filled with so many things from abroad that there is no place for Baby Jesus there!

Is there room for the Saviour in our lives, or, are we too busy with Christmas? Are we ready to recognise the Saviour lying in a manger wrapped in rags?

By Rev. Fr. L.X. Jerome