The Nativity of the Lord Christmas Mass During the Day

Fr Ken and niece Katie
wishing you a Merry Christmas

In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways 
to our ancestors through the prophets; 
in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son…

The liturgies of Christmas are rich with pageantry and symbolism. It is impossible to say everything that might be said of the feast, and foolish to try. So I’ll be content with a few words about the second reading from the Mass of Christmas Day – Hebrews 1:1-6

I have been struck this year by the effort the Church makes to place Christmas and Jesus in the context of salvation history. If Jesus comes as a surprise, he is a long-awaited surprise. Since the day Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, we have waited for the savior. The church counts as the first announcement of the gospel, God’s words to Eve:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel."

This might be read as a comment on the dread we often feel about snakes. Many people get the heebie-jeebies at the very mention of Scolecophidia and Alethinophidia. But from ancient times we have heard God’s intention announced to Adam and Eve that a human being, one of their own descendants, will save us from the Serpent. And we have seen the serpent reappear as mankind’s nemesis in Revelation 12 and 20 ( Rev 12:9; 20:2) when he is decisively vanquished by the Lamb of God. 

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures in partial and various ways we find God’s innumerable promises to save us. Those promises appear in the heroes who prefigure Jesus: 

• Adam is the first man, Jesus is the only son of God; 
• Noah saves his people by the wood of the ark, Jesus by the wood of the cross; 
• The water that wash over Noah's ark purify the earth, Jesus saves with the baptismal water gushing from his chest; 
• Abraham is the father of faith, Jesus is the object of Abraham’s faith; 
• Isaac is a sacrificial offering, as is Jesus; 
• Joseph goes to Egypt, as does Jesus – and so forth.

Every word of the Old Testament is a promise that finds its fulfillment in the Word made Flesh. That is why we can never dismiss the Hebrew Scriptures. In our endless quest to know Jesus better we scrutinize every word.  

The Letter to the Hebrews will expand its opening statement, celebrating the gift we have received from God, the privilege of knowing Jesus as his ancestors did not. They longed to see his day but did not.

Christmas should reignite our fascination with Jesus and our eagerness to know him better. We should be especially eager to find him in the Old Testament and to worship in the New.

May that same Blessed Child live in your heart today, and in the hearts of all your loved ones.