It’s time to start celebrating the birth of the Child in Bethlehem
Reflections on the readings for the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord (December 24, 2021): IS 62:1-5; PS 89:4-5,16-17,27,29; ACTS 13:16-17,22-25; MT 1:1-25
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
It’s a time of joy that extends from the long past to today and into eternity.
The beautiful Liturgy of this Christmas Vigil Mass speaks of the long years when the Jewish people awaited the arrival of the Messiah. They knew He would come because God had promised it. And whatever doubts and difficulties and even disasters they had experienced along the way, they believed the truth: that God never goes back on His word. The patriarchs and prophets and ordinary Jewish men, women, and children waited for the plan of the Almighty to unfold. In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear St. Paul, who had been a faithful Jew even to the point of persecuting Christians, give his first great speech proclaiming Jesus as the Christ. He reminded his listeners that He was expected to come from the House of David. “The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt… and raised up David as king and of him He testifies, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after My own heart; He will carry out My every wish.’ From this man’s descendants God, according to His promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus’” (Acts 13:18,22-24).
And so Jesus came among His people. Few would pay attention to Him on the day He was born – Mary and Joseph, naturally, a few shepherds, and, yes, a multitude of angels. But for the larger world, both Jewish and Gentile, it would be years before Christ began His ministry among His fellow Jews. He was as poor and unimportant as His neighbors and the crowds He addressed. Many probably thought that God would send a Messiah of power, splendor, and majesty. Yet His words of mercy, forgiveness, and love convinced some at listeners that He had indeed been sent by God. In time, a number of these would come to believe that He was Himself the Son of God come to save – and change – the world.
