WEBVTT 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:16.300 We continue our wonderful Christmas celebration 00:00:16.300 --> 00:00:23.440 here in church. I hope that you have been able 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:27.660 to continue and celebrate at home. But here in 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:34.380 church, the church sets before us like it has 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:38.950 for the last two weeks. Family members. Two weeks 00:00:38.950 --> 00:00:42.710 ago, the ancestors of Christ by faith and by 00:00:42.710 --> 00:00:48.770 blood. Forebears of the Virgin Mary. Forebears 00:00:48.770 --> 00:00:53.350 of Joseph, his foster father. Last Sunday, the 00:00:53.350 --> 00:00:56.570 same thing, except these were forebears by blood. 00:00:56.990 --> 00:01:00.530 And today we celebrate the righteous Joseph, 00:01:00.929 --> 00:01:06.400 the betrothed. David, the king and prophet. And 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.780 James, the brother of the Lord, in our liturgical 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:13.280 books, he's called the brother of God. He's the 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:16.420 son of Joseph. By Joseph's previous marriage, 00:01:16.659 --> 00:01:22.400 his wife had died. So, yes, Christmas is about 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:27.480 family, for sure. But it's not about our family 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:31.079 celebrations. It's about the Lord's family and 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:34.629 our integration into that, becoming... members 00:01:34.629 --> 00:01:38.609 of his family which is why we heard that wonderful 00:01:38.609 --> 00:01:41.810 and brief epistle on christmas when the fullness 00:01:41.810 --> 00:01:45.750 of time had come god sent forth his son born 00:01:45.750 --> 00:01:49.909 of a woman born under the law and we saint paul 00:01:49.909 --> 00:01:52.909 is telling us that we have also become children 00:01:52.909 --> 00:02:00.709 of the father so two weeks ago and last week 00:02:00.709 --> 00:02:08.020 that list of ancestors, some were righteous, 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:12.979 most were rather wicked, but today we get to 00:02:12.979 --> 00:02:17.800 the top three. The most holy of them, Joseph, 00:02:17.900 --> 00:02:24.199 David, and James. And it's important for us that 00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:27.439 we use them, we see them, we are inspired by 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:30.819 them in our lives, because the Christian life 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:36.560 if it doesn't have inspiration, if we don't have 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:40.080 models to follow, if we don't understand that 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:43.699 there will be a struggle to us, for us, and with 00:02:43.699 --> 00:02:48.259 us, and in us, then it's not Christianity. It's 00:02:48.259 --> 00:02:55.879 something different. And my point is this. We 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:58.979 heard the gospel you heard today. This is the 00:02:58.979 --> 00:03:03.219 third time in a week. We heard that gospel the 00:03:03.219 --> 00:03:06.780 third time in a week. Why is that? Well, let's 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:13.699 briefly go over this chapter 2, verse 13 through 00:03:13.699 --> 00:03:23.740 23. The birth has occurred. And the wise men, 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:26.840 the Magi, have departed. They went back to where 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:29.020 they came from. And that's a mysterious thing. 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:33.340 Someday we'll talk about that. And Joseph is 00:03:33.340 --> 00:03:37.379 given a vision by an angel. Notice Joseph, this 00:03:37.379 --> 00:03:40.080 is his second one. He's got another one after 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:43.280 that. And the angel says, arise, take the young 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:46.340 child and his mother. He doesn't say take your 00:03:46.340 --> 00:03:50.039 child and your wife. That's because Joseph is 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:53.800 the foster father. He is the caretaker, the protector. 00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:58.860 He is not the father of Jesus. Take them. and 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:03.719 flee into Egypt. So, by night, how long after 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:06.280 the birth, I don't know. Scholars can tell you. 00:04:07.620 --> 00:04:13.099 In the night, when it's quiet, Joseph takes the 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:18.259 holy ones with James, his son, and they leave 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:21.379 secretly. They don't tell anyone. None of the 00:04:21.379 --> 00:04:26.019 neighbors know. And he takes the child, and he 00:04:26.019 --> 00:04:29.689 flees there. And as St. Matthew says, this is 00:04:29.689 --> 00:04:33.050 in prophecy. This is in fulfillment of that verse. 00:04:33.250 --> 00:04:39.110 Out of Egypt have I called my son. In the meantime, 00:04:39.310 --> 00:04:43.529 what's happening? King Herod, who is not a legitimate 00:04:43.529 --> 00:04:47.870 Jewish king. He is not in the line of descendants 00:04:47.870 --> 00:04:52.730 of David. He doesn't keep the Torah, the law. 00:04:53.449 --> 00:04:56.410 He's not religious in any way, as we know from 00:04:56.410 --> 00:04:59.709 why he killed St. John the Baptist. In any case, 00:04:59.810 --> 00:05:05.990 the Magi did not come back to him to tell him 00:05:05.990 --> 00:05:09.769 where the young child was. And he was, it says 00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:14.189 here, exceedingly angry, or as you heard in the 00:05:14.189 --> 00:05:18.709 King James, exceeding wroth, which has some bite 00:05:18.709 --> 00:05:23.759 to it. And he sent soldiers. To all the villages. 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:31.279 And 14 ,000 children in his hunt and his envy 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:35.959 and his fear of a king that is true. He killed 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:42.060 14 ,000 children. Today, the 29th of December, 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.120 is the day we remember the 14 ,000. Well, let's 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:52.649 not forget. Kings in ancient times. Caesars killing 00:05:52.649 --> 00:05:56.189 millions of people. They came home with laurels 00:05:56.189 --> 00:06:01.110 and congratulations and victories and games. 00:06:02.209 --> 00:06:04.829 This was accounted to them as something great. 00:06:07.110 --> 00:06:12.310 We don't do much better. Over a million children 00:06:12.310 --> 00:06:17.930 were aborted just in 2023. In this country alone. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:22.459 So say what you want about Herod. We're not doing 00:06:22.459 --> 00:06:28.560 much better. And then an angel comes to Joseph 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:31.279 again and says, Arise, take the young child and 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:37.100 his mother, exact words, and come back. Now why 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:42.259 do we hear this three times? To me, I could be 00:06:42.259 --> 00:06:46.139 wrong, it's my opinion. We hear this three times 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:51.029 to tell us that jesus christ will disturb and 00:06:51.029 --> 00:06:57.649 destroy all that is wicked and evil he will mess 00:06:57.649 --> 00:07:00.949 up your life if you don't give it to him willingly 00:07:00.949 --> 00:07:05.449 or you only give it to him partially listen what 00:07:05.449 --> 00:07:08.470 father alexander schmemann has to say about christmas 00:07:08.470 --> 00:07:21.240 day he says fear Destruction, hatred, evil, exactly 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:25.019 what Herod did, are the very life to which we 00:07:25.019 --> 00:07:28.100 are condemned. Yet this is exactly the awareness, 00:07:28.379 --> 00:07:31.839 the image of life that is found in the Gospels. 00:07:32.579 --> 00:07:35.199 Christ comes to a people who are sitting in darkness 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:38.980 and in the shadow of death. This is the first 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:43.759 definition of the human condition in the Gospels. 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:48.120 The joy of Christmas night is immediately black 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:50.620 and Herod wants to kill the child and for this 00:07:50.620 --> 00:07:55.439 he murders a multitude of children. Now, writes 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:58.620 the evangelist Matthew, quoting the Old Testament, 00:07:58.740 --> 00:08:03.720 a voice is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:07.939 Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:15.310 to be consoled because they are no more. To the 00:08:15.310 --> 00:08:21.370 Christians of Ephesus, St. Ignatius, the martyr, 00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:26.589 the God -bearer, wrote this. He says, the power 00:08:26.589 --> 00:08:31.189 of magic in the birth of Christ, the coming of 00:08:31.189 --> 00:08:34.990 God in the flesh, all that is dissolved. Every 00:08:34.990 --> 00:08:39.470 bond of wickedness is vanishing. Ignorance is 00:08:39.470 --> 00:08:43.049 being abolished. The old kingdom is being destroyed. 00:08:43.490 --> 00:08:47.990 God was becoming manifest as a man for the newness 00:08:47.990 --> 00:08:52.169 of eternal life for us. What had been prepared 00:08:52.169 --> 00:08:58.909 by God all those generations had its beginning. 00:08:59.789 --> 00:09:03.429 Hence, everything was shaken together for the 00:09:03.429 --> 00:09:10.039 abolition of death. Was being planned. That's 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:14.820 Christmas brothers and sisters. Yes it's joyful. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:20.080 But it's also the challenge to the world. And 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:22.879 it's a challenge to us to live as Christians. 00:09:25.860 --> 00:09:30.740 The king is born. The king of kings has come 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:36.730 to the earth. He's not just a little baby. He's 00:09:36.730 --> 00:09:40.529 not just the reason for the season. He is not 00:09:40.529 --> 00:09:44.470 just or merely the gentle Savior. Yes, he is 00:09:44.470 --> 00:09:48.330 meek and mild and full of love. And he says, 00:09:48.389 --> 00:09:52.490 come unto me, all you that labor. I will give 00:09:52.490 --> 00:09:57.129 you rest. My burden is easy. My yoke is light. 00:09:59.129 --> 00:10:02.990 He is also the one who is the conquering king 00:10:02.990 --> 00:10:09.090 with a rear action. Against the devil. Meaning 00:10:09.090 --> 00:10:12.870 he descends into death itself. He's marching 00:10:12.870 --> 00:10:16.090 with his armies. The angels. The hosts of heaven. 00:10:16.289 --> 00:10:19.509 The righteous. The martyrs. The saints. The 14 00:10:19.509 --> 00:10:23.830 ,000 children. David the king. James his brother. 00:10:26.090 --> 00:10:29.559 Joseph. his foster father he is invading the 00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:32.960 old kingdom he is declaring war on the old kingdom 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:36.899 as saint ignatius says magic ignorance wickedness 00:10:36.899 --> 00:10:42.340 being dissolved yes they still exist but not 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:49.299 in you for god has saved us you have been enlightened 00:10:49.299 --> 00:10:53.299 all that ignorance and hatred and and sinfulness 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:58.200 is laid to rest it's forgiven Every old stone 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:01.299 is pulled down. The kingdoms of the world are 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:06.340 falling down, according to the prophet Daniel. 00:11:07.179 --> 00:11:10.820 For the abolition of death, says St. Ignatius 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:15.639 again, has been planned. Because here, in this 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:18.960 feast, the enemy is confronted. Is it Herod? 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:22.919 Jesus didn't preach against the other Herod. 00:11:23.289 --> 00:11:26.409 Is it Caesar? Jesus never preached against the 00:11:26.409 --> 00:11:29.809 inhumanity and injustice of the Roman Empire. 00:11:31.610 --> 00:11:35.210 No, the battle has begun. Nothing is ever going 00:11:35.210 --> 00:11:37.669 to be the same, but the enemy, the last enemy, 00:11:37.830 --> 00:11:43.789 is death. St. Paul says in Corinthians, the last 00:11:43.789 --> 00:11:47.309 enemy that will be destroyed is death. This is 00:11:47.309 --> 00:11:51.850 why... are rejoicing on Christmas, and those 00:11:51.850 --> 00:11:54.850 Christmas carols and the hymns we sing, that's 00:11:54.850 --> 00:12:01.409 what they're telling us. But we kind of, we can 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:05.750 reduce Christmas to just a family event. Let 00:12:05.750 --> 00:12:11.129 it change everything. Be Christian on purpose. 00:12:12.049 --> 00:12:17.129 To our Lord be glory, honor, and worship now 00:12:17.129 --> 00:12:19.250 and ever, two ages of ages. Amen.