WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:06.459 I welcome and greet you with that time -honored 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:18.460 salutation, Christ is born. During this joyous 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:25.699 Christmas season, the Church, through her hymns 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:33.200 and prayers, proclaims the core doctrine of our 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:39.840 Christian faith. And that is, in one word, the 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:48.859 Incarnation. The Incarnation is the mystery of 00:00:48.859 --> 00:00:59.479 the eternal God taking on human nature. Eternal 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:11.400 God taking on our human nature. The mystery and 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:22.340 silence of eternity has been broken. That which 00:01:22.340 --> 00:01:28.739 is beyond all human logic. that which is in fact 00:01:28.739 --> 00:01:34.120 indescribable, and as we have in the liturgy, 00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:43.620 incomprehensible. The infinite God becomes one 00:01:43.620 --> 00:01:54.760 of us. It is indeed beyond logic, beyond human 00:01:54.760 --> 00:02:03.299 reason. It is one of those great mysteries in 00:02:03.299 --> 00:02:09.020 life which we can only accept on the basis of 00:02:09.020 --> 00:02:21.240 faith. God comes on earth, steps into the stream 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:28.400 of our history and in the person of the Christ 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:43.580 child. calls us to salvation. Long lay the world 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:51.699 in sin and error pining until he, the Christ 00:02:51.699 --> 00:02:57.240 child, appeared and the world felt its worth. 00:03:00.509 --> 00:03:10.289 Why? Why does the earth and heaven rejoice? Because 00:03:10.289 --> 00:03:17.770 God and man is now reconciled. Listen once again 00:03:17.770 --> 00:03:25.289 to the angelic announcement made to the shepherds. 00:03:25.849 --> 00:03:33.979 Not to the kings. but to the shepherds. I bring 00:03:33.979 --> 00:03:40.439 you glad tidings of great joy, who will be for 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:44.580 all peoples, underline that, for all peoples. 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:50.180 For there is born this day in the city of David 00:03:50.180 --> 00:04:01.409 a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And as if to 00:04:01.409 --> 00:04:09.530 emphasize this great mystery, the angel appears 00:04:09.530 --> 00:04:14.449 to Joseph and Mary and says to them, you shall 00:04:14.449 --> 00:04:26.550 call his name Jesus, which means Savior. Each 00:04:26.550 --> 00:04:34.319 year, On the Sunday following Christmas, the 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:39.699 church commemorates three members of our Lord's 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:45.600 earthly family. David, the prophet and king, 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:51.819 the apostle James, the brother of our Lord Jesus, 00:04:51.959 --> 00:05:03.560 and Joseph. The foster father of our Lord. But 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:09.420 in this season. There is another dimension or 00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:15.779 perspective. Which we seldom. Remember or recall. 00:05:19.220 --> 00:05:29.709 The church emphasizes. A rather chilling. reality. 00:05:33.170 --> 00:05:41.129 That of the cost of following our Lord. Today 00:05:41.129 --> 00:05:46.129 we recall the martyrdom of Stephen, the first 00:05:46.129 --> 00:05:53.350 deacon who was stoned to death because of his 00:05:53.350 --> 00:06:00.850 faith, love, And preaching of Christ. The first 00:06:00.850 --> 00:06:11.189 martyr. I had an interesting conversation. With 00:06:11.189 --> 00:06:19.670 one of our neighbors. Who said to me. You know 00:06:19.670 --> 00:06:24.529 I really enjoy Christmas. It gives me a boost. 00:06:27.149 --> 00:06:34.610 But you know what? He says, it goes by too fast. 00:06:38.470 --> 00:06:46.449 It goes by too fast and he says, it's a downer. 00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:56.759 I wonder how many of us feel that way. The day 00:06:56.759 --> 00:07:02.259 after Christmas. We are again confronted with 00:07:02.259 --> 00:07:10.120 earthly reality. We're confronted with the same 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:13.939 issues and problems and difficulties and even 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:20.899 disappointments. But the message of Christmas 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:27.750 can never fade. It's always bright. It's always 00:07:27.750 --> 00:07:41.389 joyful. It's always relevant. Because the scriptures 00:07:41.389 --> 00:07:48.569 tell us that Jesus shall be called Emmanuel, 00:07:48.930 --> 00:07:59.069 which means God. Is with us. Understand all ye 00:07:59.069 --> 00:08:06.269 people. Understand and repent. For God. Is with 00:08:06.269 --> 00:08:15.529 us. Now on the basis of today's reading. Let's 00:08:15.529 --> 00:08:22.620 take a brief look. And see how Christmas. Has 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:30.360 affected. The shepherds. The Virgin Mary. And 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:37.120 the wise men. And it comes from St. Luke. Who 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:42.320 tells us. That the shepherds. After hearing. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:48.039 The angelic choir singing glory to God in the 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:51.320 highest. And on earth peace goodwill toward men. 00:08:52.330 --> 00:08:57.710 And after worshiping the Christ child, they returned 00:08:57.710 --> 00:09:01.870 to their fields. But there is a profound difference 00:09:01.870 --> 00:09:07.070 because we hear them read that they had glorified, 00:09:07.190 --> 00:09:11.649 praising God for the things that they had seen 00:09:11.649 --> 00:09:18.629 and heard. So there was no downer. They went 00:09:18.629 --> 00:09:28.289 back singing and praising God. Although it was 00:09:28.289 --> 00:09:34.830 the day after, there was no letdown. Something 00:09:34.830 --> 00:09:40.429 profoundly happened that was profoundly wonderful, 00:09:40.990 --> 00:09:46.409 life -changing. They went back to their fields 00:09:46.409 --> 00:09:52.590 with a song in their heart. With a song in their 00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:59.929 heart. For now God was with them. as the angel 00:09:59.929 --> 00:10:09.129 told him. Now, as the poet said, the wind blows, 00:10:09.509 --> 00:10:17.029 the snow falls, but the love that flows from 00:10:17.029 --> 00:10:24.149 the child's crib warms the world. There can be 00:10:24.149 --> 00:10:31.110 no letdown. St. Luke tells us also about the 00:10:31.110 --> 00:10:37.269 Virgin Mary. How she kept the words of the angels 00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:46.029 and how she herself experienced some immaculate 00:10:46.029 --> 00:10:53.289 and incredible experience. The scriptures tell 00:10:53.289 --> 00:11:00.870 us she pondered. She pondered these blessed things 00:11:00.870 --> 00:11:11.750 that she herself experienced. For Mary, there 00:11:11.750 --> 00:11:19.129 was no letdown because she pondered all of these 00:11:19.129 --> 00:11:26.549 things in her heart. And that's what a wise man, 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:34.519 Listen carefully. After worshipping and presenting 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:40.059 their gifts to the newborn king, the New Testament 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:50.419 tells us they went home another way. They went 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:59.639 home another day, another way. Why? Because what 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:05.139 they had seen and what they had experienced changed 00:12:05.139 --> 00:12:12.320 their lives. No one, and let me emphasize this 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:23.919 at the point of being exaggerated, no one who 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:36.860 has ever met Found. And accept Christ. Lives 00:12:36.860 --> 00:12:54.860 an old life. No. Motives. Values. Priorities. 00:12:56.580 --> 00:13:05.750 Attitudes. Can no longer ever be the same. Because 00:13:05.750 --> 00:13:09.789 once you have met. And accepted Christ as your 00:13:09.789 --> 00:13:16.149 savior. Life radically changes. We don't see 00:13:16.149 --> 00:13:23.330 life. From an earthly perspective. Always from 00:13:23.330 --> 00:13:30.049 the dimension. Of the divine. Because Christmas 00:13:30.049 --> 00:13:36.500 means. Finding a new and better way to live. 00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:42.580 Not to accept what society wants us to believe 00:13:42.580 --> 00:13:50.360 and accept. Now let us go another way. God's 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:55.120 way. For God has revealed himself to us. And 00:13:55.120 --> 00:14:00.659 revealed himself in the vulnerable Christ child. 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:05.179 But with the words ringing in our ears, I have 00:14:05.179 --> 00:14:07.539 come that you may have life and have it more 00:14:07.539 --> 00:14:13.440 abundantly. So, my dear people, as we take down 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:19.419 our Christmas decorations, let us be careful 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:27.740 and mindful not to remove Christ. He was not 00:14:27.740 --> 00:14:33.289 meant for the attic. not meant for the garage, 00:14:33.649 --> 00:14:39.809 but for the living room in your heart throughout 00:14:39.809 --> 00:14:47.350 the years. If He, Christ the King, the Everlasting 00:14:47.350 --> 00:14:55.070 Father, dwells in our life, then there will be 00:14:55.070 --> 00:15:05.990 no letdown. when the song of the angels is stilled, 00:15:05.990 --> 00:15:14.389 when the star in the sky is gone, when the wise 00:15:14.389 --> 00:15:20.389 men are home, when the shepherds are back with 00:15:20.389 --> 00:15:29.350 their flock, then, and only then, does the work 00:15:29.350 --> 00:15:36.320 of Christmas begin. Just as some of you on Christmas 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:44.500 Eve had accepted the work of taking care of the 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:56.059 nomads who you fed on Holy Thursday. I admire 00:15:56.059 --> 00:16:02.200 you for this. And I give thanks to you. for witnessing 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:06.080 in such a beautiful way. You could have done 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:11.659 something else, but rather you came and served 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:18.279 the needy, the hungry, the lonely, the rejected, 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:25.559 to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:32.909 the hungry, to bring peace. That is our task. 00:16:33.450 --> 00:16:38.070 This is what Christ calls us to do and to be. 00:16:39.309 --> 00:16:40.490 Christ is born.