Christmas is a day that changed the whole course of creation. In the beginning, God created a perfect world, with no defect. But through human sin, suffering and death entered the world. Human sin created a wedge between God and humanity, cutting the human race off from the grace of God. But God did abandon humanity in our brokenness. Right after the fall of the human race, God promised the coming of the Savior, who would redeem the fallen world.
The celebration of Christmas has four different Masses, each with its own readings - the Vigil Mass, the Mass During the Night, the Mass at Dawn, and the Mass During the Day. In the Gospel passage for the Vigil Mass, we see the genealogy of Jesus from the time of Abraham. The passage shows the centuries of preparation for the coming of the Messiah, the Savior of the world. In fact, the entirety of the Old Testament period is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ. Contemporary Christian readers are often puzzled by some of the contents of the Old Testament. But everything falls into place if we approach those texts through the lens of the New Testament, through the Gospel message of Christ.
A study of the various figures of the genealogy of Christ would show that a number of the people named were flawed characters, who left much to be desired. But God was able to work through them, sometimes in spite of their actions, to accomplish his purpose. A recurring theme of the Old Testament is that God brings good even out of our failings, which should give us hope as we often stumble and fall even as we seek to follow Christ.
In the Gospel passage for the Mass During the Night, we see the Roman Emperor ordering a census just as Christ is about to be born. Conducting a census was a way for the Empire to assert its power and authority over the conquered nations. Throughout the New Testament, the Roman Empire is depicted as a profoundly evil and oppressive force - indeed as the symbol of the worst evil that humanity has produced. The Messiah is thus born just as the most evil force in the human world is asserting the greatness of its power over society. The need for the Savior could not be greater.
The Jewish people were eagerly awaiting the coming of the Messiah to free them from the oppression of the Romans. They expected the Savior to be a military conqueror, who would overthrow the Roman Empire through force, establishing a new and glorious kingdom for the followers of God. However, God's plan was different. Instead of choosing a man to take the role of the Messiah, God came among us himself. He took on our human nature and became one of us. He came not in resplendent glory, but in great humility. He did not overthrow the Roman Empire through military force. Instead, he was the Suffering Servant prophesied by Isaiah. He offered himself in self-sacrificial love upon the Cross, so that through his sacrifice, all of humanity may be freed from sin. The Roman Empire, and all the evil that their rule represented, would in time be conquered, but through the spiritual transformation brought about by God's grace.
In the Gospel passage for the Christmas Mass at Dawn, we see the humble arrival of the Messiah. The angels proclaim the Good News of the birth of Jesus to shepherds, who were considered along the lowest members of society at that time. Jesus is born in a stable among the animals - the opposite of the opulent circumstances into which an earthly king would normally be born.
Significantly, the shepherds are tending their flocks near Bethlehem, which is just outside of Jerusalem, where the Jewish Temple stood. The priests of the Temple offered various forms of sacrifice, including the sacrifice of sheep to atone for the sins of the people. The sacrificial sheep were raised in the area of Bethlehem, so the shepherds who come to greet the newborn Christ child were likely the ones tending the sacrificial sheep. The connection foreshadows that Jesus would in time become the Lamb of God, whose sacrifice atones for all the sins of humanity, once and for all. The connection with the shepherds also foreshadows that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who gives his life for his sheep and through whose sacrifice all his sheep can find salvation, if they accept his love.
What is more, the baby Jesus sleeps in a manger, which is a feeding trough, where the food of the animals of the stable would be placed. The image foreshadows that Jesus would give us himself in the Eucharist. In fact, the word "Bethlehem" means "House of Bread," which underscores that Jesus is the Bread of Life. At Mass, through the Words of consecration by the priest, the Eucharistic bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ himself. We receive Christ himself in Communion, in the most intimate connection with God we can have in this life.
The profound, intimate union to which God calls us is especially highlighted in the Gospel of John, from where the Gospel passage for the Mass During the Day is taken. The Gospel of John starts with a description of the Incarnation, that is to say, God becoming one of us, which it presents as being equally important to God's initial act of creation. The writings of the Apostle John include five works - his Gospel, his three letters, and The Book of Revelation, the last of which depicts the end of the world. In his works, the Apostle John shows the cosmic significance of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The redemption brought about by the sacrifice of Christ goes beyond freeing humanity from sin. Christ's redemptive act begins the restoration of the whole of the cosmos, which will culminate in the reshaping of all of creation into the New Heaven and the New Earth, the New Jerusalem, described in The Book of Revelation. The New Jerusalem will be a place free of all sorrow, free of all suffering and death, and will be a world of complete peace, absolute joy, and unending life.
A key principle in the Gospel of John is that humanity is not merely restored to its pre-fallen state but is invited into an even deeper relationship with God. When God became incarnate and took on our human nature, he brought about the closest possible union between himself and us, between the Creator and the created realm. Christ invites us into this closest, most intimate possible union with him. We are called to become partakers of his divine life, living in and drinking of his infinite love for all eternity. The birth of the baby Jesus in a humble stable amid the animals set in motion a cosmic process of transformation that will, in the fullness of time, culminate in the blessed heavenly realm where Christ will be all in all and where his love will rule all things for eternity.
That is the Good News of Christmas. That is why we should indeed be very merry as we celebrate the feast. Let us also remember that for us Catholics, the Christmas season has just begun and will continue until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord in January. So let us keep celebrating, even as the world around us takes down the colorful lights and pretty decorations. Let us keep saying Merry Christmas, knowing the eternal, unending, divine merriment that awaits us.
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The full text of the readings for the Nativity of the Lord, Cycle C, can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: The 14 Point Star that marks the exact spot of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (c) 2016 by Zoltan Abraham.