THE NIGHT WHERE HEAVEN AND EARTH REJOICE.

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December 25 2019 - At the Vigil Mass



 

READINGS: Is 62:1-5; Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Mt 1:1-25
A Hindu proverb says, “True happiness consists in making others happy.” Another proverb adds, “There are two kinds of men: those who could be happy and are not, and those who search for happiness and find it not.”
Genuine happiness is contagious. Thus, no one can be happy alone or contain his happiness for himself without sharing it with others. Heaven and Earth today rejoice of a unique and singular event: God is born to us.
Today is Christmas. The day God became man and dwelled with men. It is the day where the love of God fills the whole universe and the entire creation rejoice and is glad. The Gloria is anew sung, and not only by human voices, but also and firstly by angelic choir.
What makes this night so special is the great mystery it reveals. This, the Catechism states it right saying, “The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man. During the first centuries, the Church had to defend and clarify this truth of faith against the heresies that falsified it” (CCC. 464).
In Christ Jesus, today, God becomes man without losing or deteriorating his divinity. The Nativity of Christ does not sound that by taking our humanity, the Son of God is unvested of his divine nature. The divinity of Jesus is not like a cloth he could remove and put on back when he is pleased. The one who is born to us today is God; fully man, fully God, without any confusion.
Christmas, actually, shows us the relentless and boundless love of God who choses to bear human nature in order to save mankind. It is an admirable exchange which has a unique purpose, to bring mankind back to God; to restore the communion and communication between Heaven and Earth. Therefore, we could say without mistaking that, in this very night, Heaven lowers itself to Earth. God becomes one of us, “Emmanuel”; and that is sang with glee by Angels.
The word of God for tonight’s celebration are all about this mysterious incarnation and nativity. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah assured Jerusalem that God has not forsaken her. “No more shall people call you "Forsaken," or your land "Desolate," but you shall be called "My Delight," and your land "Espoused."” What is said of the City of God is also addressed to us. The Lord comes to restore our humanity in its dignity. Through the birth of Jesus, our human nature is restored in its original beauty and dignity. What we lost by sin is restore by God’s love. Therefore, Isaiah can add that God shall rejoice over us; that is to say, Heaven will rejoice over the Earth’s salvation.
In the second reading, the Apostle Paul bears witness to Christ. He confesses him as the Son of David, instrument of our salvation. The Evangelist Matthew, in the Gospel gives a historical account of the nativity, starting by the proof that Jesus is of a Davidic ascendance; the genealogy. Matthew ends with the record of the annunciation made to Joseph.
All these accounts of the nativity are aimed to a singular point: Happiness. We are called to join heaven and rejoice because our savior is born. Let the Earth join its voice to Heaven and echo the great angelic glory. With the Psalmist, may we sing forever the mercy of God. Because, it is out of merciful love that the Lord choses to be our “Emmanuel”, God with us.
God is born to be with us, so that we too might be with God. May this Christmas be for us a goad to fully love God. May it be a new opportunity to truly love each other, not only by words, rather through actions. So, let us resolve to share the happiness of Christmas around us.
It is Christmas! Make it feel by all by making happy those who mourn; the lonely, the forsaken, the marginalized, the orphans, the widows, the elderly forgotten in retirement houses, those in the prisons, the street children, the homeless… Share your happiness with them, because that happiness it also meant for them. Make them rejoice with you! And never forget this Ivorian proverb, “Happiness is not perfected until it is shared.” Merry Christmas to all!

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