shepherds

SUNDAY 21 DECEMBER: THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT AND THURSDAY 25 DECEMBER: THE SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (CHRISTMAS).

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Joseph’s Dream, Gandolphi c.1790, Private Collection.

…the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”   Matthew 1:20-21.

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This is the first mention of our Savior’s name in the gospel, and it was a frequent and  acceptable name for a boy. In the original Hebrew/Aramaic that Jesus spoke, his name is יֵשׁוּעַ transliterated to Yeshua (Ioshua or Joshua in English). Our name Jesus comes through the Greek, in which the entire New Testament is written. Yeshua becomes Ἰησοῦς or Iēsous, as the “sh” sound is unknown in Greek. The nearest equivalent was “s”, from which we get Iēsus in English. I and J are historically close in English; the first edition King James version of the Bible called him Iesus and even Shakespeare originally called his play Romeo and Iuliet. However, the consonant I became J at that time, hence Jesus. The name means God Saves. In today’s gospel, Joseph had discovered that Mary was pregnant and was about to separate from her quietly, hence the heavenly messenger. That changed everything, as Joseph was prepared to accept the unique situation he found himself in and act accordingly. He possibly thought that this had been prefigured in the 7th chapter of the Book of Isaiah, read at today’s Mass: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel”. Hence he accepted his role in the fulfillment of this prophecy, and responded to God’s call fully and without hesitation. It is interesting that biblical scholars note that prophecies might have had at least two meanings, one dealing with the immediate time and place it was proclaimed, and then another, such as here, centuries later. 

So this 4th Sunday in Advent would seem to be an occasion of prophetic fulfillment. Isaiah talks of the maiden giving birth to a son, Paul talking about the Son of God descended from David long promised by the holy prophets, and the gospel emphasizing the Isaiah prophecy once more, as if to underline the fulfillment of those words in Mary, to be protected and supported by Joseph. In other words, the birth to be celebrated this week is the culmination of centuries of waiting and centuries of prophetic utterance at last to be realized. 

The Nativity, Domenico Ghirlandaio c.1492, Vatican Museums, Vatican City State.

THURSDAY 25TH DECEMBER 2025: THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (CHRISTMAS).

 

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And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.   John 1:14.

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And so, on this wondrous night, the heavenly angels sang, the shepherds were overwhelmed, and the unbelievable happened: the Son of God became flesh. After 2000 years of preparation, the Hebrew people found in their midst the Son of God, born of a Virgin, yet in poverty. His cradle was a feeding trough, the witnesses humble shepherds of the fields and beasts stabled in a barn. Yet here was the baby whose birth was to transform the world, give it hope, inspire countless millions to aim for perfection and adopt a lifestyle of care for others. From the time of Abraham, the Hebrew people, who originally had no idea who and what God was like,  had become aware of a God who was powerful, from the very beginning seen in a very old Sarah giving birth to Isaac at the age of 90. God was revealed to be loyal, even to Hagar after she was expelled from Abraham’s camp (Genesis 21:9-21) ; forgiving even to Jacob who cheated his way to getting his father’s blessing meant for Esau; a listener who heard the cries of the Hebrew people enslaved in Egypt arranged for their release. God revealed mercy, seen when the Hebrews, wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and complaining and moaning about their lot (they had been released from slavery in Egypt, hence revealing that God was also a lover of freedom) were still protected by God, and eventually arriving in the Promised Land which was to be their home. And above all, something which separated Israel’s God from all others, the God of the Hebrews was open to relationship, seen in the mutual pact between God and Moses at the Burning Bush. So by the time of the birth of Jesus, the Jewish people knew a great deal about God, but in the ups and downs of their history needed to know how to live the life which reflected all those qualities. Indeed they might have thought it was impossible to live such a life! And hence the arrival of the Lord, who did exactly that. He showed us all how to incorporate all of God’s qualities in our own life, and gave us the Holy Spirit as the ultimate source of strength to accomplish that. And this day saw the start of the final story, with Jesus, the Son of God preparing the way for the Spirit of God to guide us down to today. Alleluia! May God bless us, every one. Have a very merry and blessed Christmas.

 

The Nativity, Bartolini Salimbeni, Church of the Holy Trinity, Florence, Italy.

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SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2025: THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.

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Pilgrim Traveler, Matthew 24, “Stay Awake!”

(Jesus said to his disciples) Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.     Matthew 24:42.

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The presence of the Advent wreath up at the altar today and the lighting of one candle of the four tells us immediately that Christmas is around the corner, and that we have four weeks or so to prepare for it. The tradition of the Advent wreath started with our Lutheran brothers and sisters in northern Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Pastor Johann Hinrich Wichern had the inspiration when working with poor children in Hamberg. He must have become so fed up by the children constantly asking “Is it Christmas yet?” (the 19th century version of “Are we there yet?”) that he created this:

Recollections, Advent and Johann Hinrich Wichern, November 2017.

Not quite what we see today. The original wreath, with a base in an old cartwheel, shows all the days of Advent leading up to Christmas, with white candles indicating the Sundays. Quite elaborate compared to the present-day version! It’s a sort of 3D version of the Advent calendar!

This Sunday begins a new church year and with it our hopes and prayers for a year of peace and justice, of happiness and rejoicing, of goodwill among all people. Isn’t that what Christmas is supposed to be? Isn’t that what the angels themselves sang to the shepherds in the fields abiding? But as ever, we mustn’t get too carried away, with today’s gospel telling us to stay awake in a season when excess and collapse are more likely to be found than quiet reflection and attention. But we do have this season of Advent when we can do exactly that! Now is the time when we can reflect on the wonder of this season, when the almighty majesty of the Eternal Godhead took frail flesh and was born not into fame and glory but into a stable sheltering ox and ass! What a wonder, what an example; what a lesson. That we commemorate such a humble event 2000 years later is itself a wonder. It was, I believe, the culmination of God’s plan for us the human race and with whom, Genesis tells, God was “very pleased”. How so?

The greatest gift we have is free will. Unlike the beasts of the field, locked into the basics of getting through the day, we have choices. For whatever reason, we might forgo having a meal for some reason greater than responding to hunger. We might go and climb Mount Everest simply because “it is there”. We can create artwork to strengthen the beauty around us. Animals seem to have no idea or ability to do such. Only we can. But (as always) this greatest gift began to be used for the wrong purpose. We can cause grief, hatred, evil simply because we can. That was why, I believe, God entered human life. Ancient Canaan, the land promised to Abraham by God, practiced child sacrifice at that time. Even worse, the Canaanites thought they were doing the right thing. If they needed something tremendous, such as relief from famine, or the threat of invasion, such big requests of the gods (Moloch in particular), demanded a big price (which reflects normal human experience). But in this case it was child sacrifice. And I believe it was this that caused our God to intervene in human history. Abram/Abraham heard a tiny voice, believed it to be holy and obeyed it (Genesis 12). In that way, God found a believer, sent him into the heartland of this abomination, and so began the history of God’s people, beginning with the elimination of that terrible practice  (which took a long time). For about 2000 years God slowly revealed the divine nature: God was found to be  loyal, powerful, forgiving, a listener, merciful, a lover of freedom and open to relationship. With that finally established, God’s Son arrived and displayed those identical qualities in his lifework. Being fully human, Jesus showed us how to be fully human, acting and behaving in the way God has always wanted us to behave. And everything Jesus did in his ministry we can too, given the gifts which God has provided for all of us, without exception. And Christmas marked the arrival of this man who showed us the true meaning of being human utterly and completely. We can all be like him, he using his gifts, we using ours. 

And so how about an Advent resolution? To be as truly and completely human as Jesus was. So we can never excuse ourselves with the plaintive “I was only human” to explain a fault. No – had I been truly human I would never have done/said/thought the thing I should not have. It is to betray our humanity if we excuse ourselves in that way. To be completely human is to get as close to the Lord as we can, the One who made us human, and to ask guidance or forgiveness when we have failed, that is, become less than human. In this way we will be in great shape when the Great Day arrives, when Pastor Wichern gave a sigh of relief, and we sing Adeste Fidelis!

St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Navan, County Meath, Republic of Ireland.

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