Xmas is Also
for Big Kids
Isaiah
7:10-14 Romans
1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-24
To
the church in the diaspora[1]
&
to the church of the unchurched[2]
First reading
The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, “Ask
for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high
as the sky.” But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” Then
Isaiah said, “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary
people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you
this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him
Emmanuel.”
Alleluia,
alleluia.
A reading from
the holy Gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you,
Lord.
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother
Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found
with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a
righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her
quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as
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.” All this took place to
fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God-with-us.” When
Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his
wife into his home.
The Gospel of
the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus
Christ.
----------------
Introduction
Here already!
We
wish that Lent (that somber season of penance) would speed by half as fast as
Advent does. Lent lags on through 40 dreary days in late winter until early
spring. Advent with its long list of
things to do speeds by so fast that Christmas Eve is always upon us before
we’re ready. Here it is
Early Advent: a litany of promises
In
early Advent (which began December 2) the readings at Mass are from the prophet
Isaiah. They gaze into the future. They are a relentless litany of promises that
everything that’s wrong with the world will be put right at the end of time. All
the verbs in Isaiah are in the future tense, because that is the tense of promise.
“In those days they will melt down their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. One nation will not raise
the sword against another, and they will no longer train for war again"
(Is 2:4-5). "In those days the wolf will be a guest of the lamb, and the
leopard will lie down with the kid"(Is 11:6). "In those days the deaf will be able to
hear a book being read out loud and the blind who have been living in darkness
will open their eyes and see“ (Is 29:18).
“In those days the Lord God will turn the desert into pools of water and
the dry land into flowing springs” (Is 41: 18).
That relentless litany which promises that everything
will be set right at the end of time bores us a bit and makes us a bit impatient.
We find ourselves uttering under our breath, “Yes, but why at the end of time?
Why not now!”
Late Advent: a litany of stories
In
late Advent (which began on December 17 with the Novena of Christmas), the
readings at Mass no longer gaze into the future. They gaze now into the past — to
that moment of history when Christ the Lord came a first time as a baby boy
born in
The
readings at Mass in late Advent are no longer a litany of promises but a litany
of stories. The readings now do what Christmas does best: they tell one story
after the other (a welcome relief from Isaiah of early Advent). They now are a litany of stories which do not
bore us or make us impatient. Rather, they perk up our ears and delight the
child in all of us.
That
litany of stories goes like this: Once upon a time, there was an old priest
named Zachariah offering incense before the altar of the Lord. And behold an
angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him and told him not to be afraid. Then
he surprised the old man announcing that his barren wife Elizabeth was going to
have a son whom he should name John (Lk 1: 5-25).
Once upon a time there was
a maiden at prayer. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to her announcing
that she had found favor with God. She shall conceive a son and call him
Jesus. And what’s more, her cousin
Elizabeth, barren and well-up in years, also was going to have a baby boy (Lk
That triggers another
story. As soon as the angel Gabriel departed, Mary grabbed her bonnet and
basket and sped off into the hill country to visit her aged cousin Elizabeth
and minister to her in her confinement. When she arrived at Zachariah’s house,
the old lady greeted Mary and the infant in her womb leapt for joy at the
infant in Mary’s womb (Lk
The angel’s annunciation to
Mary in turn triggers off another story. When Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, was
shocked to see Mary pregnant, he decided to quietly divorce her. Suddenly an
angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and announced that what was
conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit, and he shouldn’t be afraid to take
Mary as his wife (Mt 1:18-24).
Then there is the great
story of Christmas -- the one toward which all the other little stories of
Christmas build. It is read at Midnight Mass. “Once upon a time there were shepherds
in their fields keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel
of the Lord suddenly appeared to them, saying, `Do not be afraid! I bring you
tidings of great joy for all the people. In the city of
That sets the scene for a final story
which brings down the curtain on the Christmas drama and season. In those days when Jesus was born in
A time for childlike ears/a time for adult
ears
The Book of Ecclesiastes says there’s a time for everything under the
sun. “There’s a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time
to harvest, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to embrace and a time to
abstain, a time for war and a time for peace” (3:1-8). At this time of the
rolling year, we add one more line to that oft-quoted litany: “There is a time
for everything under the sun. There is a time to hear the stories of Christmas
with childlike ears, and a time to hear them with adult ears.
There is a time to be simple and uncomplicated about the stories
of Christmas and hear them with the ears of children. There is a time not to
second guess words but take them at their face value, as children do -- words
like “angels announcing” and “babes leaping in wombs” and “heavenly multitudes
singing” and “infants wrapped in swaddling clothes” and magnificent “magi
bearing gifts.”
But there is also a time to hear the stories of Christmas with adult
ears. There is a time not to be literal and not to take words at their face
value, but rather to go in search of the meanings behind the words. That is not
to say that the ears of adults are any better than those of children. But growing
up into adult bodies means also growing up into adult faith.
Adult ears and the story of virgin birth
On this fourth and last Sunday of Advent (Cycle A),
At the end of the day, the story of Mary’s virginal conception of
Jesus does not fly well in our culture. In a culture where breasts are bared
and bursting as never before, and where torsos are twisting and turning right
square in our faces, the story of virgin birth does not fly well. Such a
culture simply does not deem the story as worthy of a second thought, or it
dismisses the story out of hand as quite incomprehensible and even offensive to
human nature.
How in the world can such a
culture (and how can we ourselves) hear the story of Christmas without
tongue-in-cheek! How can the story of Mary’s virginal conception be told in
such a way as to give no offence but rather satisfy the adult in ourselves and
others? This is a task that is long overdue for centuries.
A positive
statement about Jesus
The story of Joseph and Mary’s virginal conception of Jesus cannot
be a negative statement about sex. It cannot be a negative statement that when the Son of God comes into the
world, it is below his dignity to be conceived in the very same way that all
other babies are conceived. It cannot be a negative statement that God, who in
the beginning created the world male and female, repented of such an indecent
creation and decided now to do things the right way, that is to say, to do
things virginally, at least in this one very special case. What an affront that
is to every mother and father and to every child born into the world! (I always
thought that the story of virgin birth was just that -- a negative statement
about sex, until I finally grew up into a thinking adult priest and preacher!)
The story of the virginal conception is not a negative statement
about sex; it is a positive statement about Jesus. He is much more than
just man’s gift to man; he is especially God’s
gift to us. Jesus is more than just the
conception of man; he is especially the conception of God.
A positive
statement about woman
The story of Joseph and Mary’s virginal conception of Jesus is
also a positive statement about woman – the female. When the Novena of
Christmas begins on the 17th of December, the gospel opens with that
long male-driven genealogy from Matthew:
"Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judah
and his brothers. And
With one powerful stroke the story of the virgin birth puts an ax
to the quiet lie that lines up only men behind the great historical moments of
history. Behind an event which divides time for many into B.C. and A.D., there
stands no man at all--only a woman. Upon a momentous page of history a woman
(and not a man) puts her signature. That’s not a feminist statement. That’s a Christmas
statement which convicts and challenges the churches and society.
A positive
statement about man
The story of Joseph and Mary’s virginal conception of Jesus is
also a positive statement about man—the male. In the drama of Christmas Joseph
steps aside and resigns his sexual prowess. He does so in order to let the message get through that Jesus is not just
his gift to us but is also and especially the gift of the Father in heaven. Stepping aside is a big order for men who are
used to center stage, and who do not resign power easily. That is a big order
for men who do not countenance their power being threatened. At the end of the
day, that might be the real but unspoken reason why women never get ordained in
the Catholic Church except by an act of disobedience.
There are those who concentrate with all their might on the
miraculous character of the virgin birth. That’s fine. There are others, who in
adult bodies seeking adult faith, concentrate on the religious meaning behind
the story of virgin birth. That’s better yet.
Conclusion
Xmas is
also for big kids
Hearing the stories of Christmas either as children or as adults
is not a matter of chronology: first we hear them as a child, and then we grow
up and hear them as an adult. We vacillate between the one and the other at
various stages in the journey of our lives. Sometimes we stand before the stories
of Christmas as grown-ups with lost innocence
-- filled with doubt or anger or
even unbelief. Sometimes we stand before
them as innocent children filled with unquestioning faith and Christmas anticipation.
Christmas is for little kids. It’s also for big kids. It’s also
for adults who can still be turned on by “angels announcing” and “babes leaping in wombs”
and “heavenly multitudes singing” and “infants wrapped in swaddling clothes”
and magnificent “magi bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”