Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord

Mass during the Day

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,
whom he made heir of all things
and through whom he created the universe,
who is the refulgence of his glory,
the very imprint of his being,
and who sustains all things by his mighty word.
When he had accomplished purification from sins,
he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
as far superior to the angels
as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Pope Francis recently described proselytizing as "pious nonsense." It sounded to many like a thunderclap on a cloudless day. As a Jesuit, the Holy Father understands with amazing clarity the mysterious ways of conversion. One human being cannot change another; no human being should attempt it. If we are sent to announce Good News that does not mean we can tell every human being what that Good News means to him or her. That they must discover within themselves, as the Light searches out the dark places and fills them with Life. 

This is how the Lord saves us: by his complete surrender to his helplessness as a human being. There was nothing he could do to change us. His preaching and healing and exemplary behavior may have excited some and inspired others but they did not effect change. His walking on water and calming the storm demonstrated his authority and awed his disciples but could not command their obedience. His feeding thousands with a few loaves of bread impressed everyone but, as Moses found when the Pharaoh’s magicians matched his signs with their own, nothing changed.

“What does it take to change these people?” he might have wondered, as we all do. From the manger, from Egypt, from his home in Nazareth and from the cross: Jesus saw everything that is unfinished, out-of-joint and wicked about human life. In the end, with his hands and feet securely fastened he could only watch and die. Jesus surrendered everything in a supreme act of faith. Despite every act of cruelty he had suffered and had seen, he believed in God who is Justice, Mercy and Goodness. His absolute love of every human being and the sacrifice of himself made all the

difference. He could do no more. 

When he had accomplished purification from sins,
he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
as far superior to the angels
as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

On Christmas Day we celebrate the total surrender of God to human life. He has become like us in all things but sin. Nothing human is alien to God; even our helplessness is holy, beautiful and very good – as God intended from the beginning.