The Nativity of the Lord
(Mass During the Day)
Readings: Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 97 (98):1-6; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18
Picture: By sayan Nath on Unsplash
Which do you think is better? To receive good news from someone else, or to actually see or experience it for oneself? For example, given a choice, which is a child more likely to prefer? To be told by someone else how much her parents love her, or to experience that love for herself? What’s the difference? I’m not sure, but perhaps it’s something like what we find in a recently released Channel News Asia video, about the Night Cafe operated by Catholic Welfare Services.
Started in 2019, and closed during the Covid pandemic, before being reopened last year, the Night Cafe caters to so-called rough sleepers. In addition to offering them a complimentary meal and convivial companionship, the Cafe also provides a safe space for staff and volunteers to interact with rough sleepers in a more sustained way. Hasan is one of the patrons featured in the video. One evening, after having frequented the Cafe every week for 8 months, Hasan approached the manager, Brian, for help with an issue that had long been weighing heavily upon his heart. He had lost his national registration identity card many years ago, and didn’t have the means to get it replaced. In the video, Brian describes the moment when Hasan walked into the Cafe on a later visit, and joyfully flashed his new identity card for all to see. Not only did everyone share his jubilation, they also noticed a significant change in the man. He stood taller, and no longer slouched and dragged his feet like before… It’s one thing to be told that there are people who care about us. It’s quite another to actually experience that care for ourselves.
The difference between hearing good news from someone else and actually experiencing it for oneself. Isn’t this also what we find in our readings today? Poetically, the first reading describes the wonderful feeling of watching the approach of messengers bearing good news. Their footsteps on the mountains are made beautiful by the joyous message they bring: The Lord is consoling Jerusalem; setting her children free from oppression; bringing them back from exile in a foreign land. As a result, Jerusalem is encouraged to rejoice greatly. Yet, in a mysterious way, the reading also tells of how Jerusalem’s watchmen shout for joy together, not just because they receive messengers of good news, but because they see the Lord face to face. They experience for themselves the consolation of the Lord.
As joyful as it is to receive Good News from others, it’s even more joyful to experience it for oneself. Isn’t this also what we find in the other two readings? At various times in the past… God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time… he has spoken to us through his Son… The Word was made flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory… Not satisfied with simply sending messengers to proclaim God’s love for us, in the person of Jesus––through his Birth and his Life, his Dying and his Rising––God gathers us into the Divine embrace. In Christ, we see the Lord face to face. For no one has ever seen God; it is the only Son… who has made him known.
And as if this were not enough, the gospel also speaks of how, in Christ, we all receive a new identity. Or rather, we are given a share in Christ’s own identity. By being gathered into the only Son of the Father, we are given power to become children of God. Power not just to rejoice in God’s Fatherly love for us, but also to share that love with others. Power even to bear the face, and to serve as the hands and feet, of God to the world, as Jesus did. Tenderly ushering others into God’s embrace. Isn’t this the marvellous gift that Jesus brings? Isn’t this what we celebrate at Christmas? But as with any other gift, this grace needs to be accepted. Much like how a child can experience the warmth of her parent’s embrace, only if she stops running around long enough to allow herself to be enfolded in her parent’s arms. As the gospel reminds us, Jesus came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him. But to all who did accept him, he gave power to become children of God.
How then to better accept Jesus? How to allow Him to usher us ever more deeply into God’s embrace? So that we may then be better able to usher others into it? Isn’t this a question that we have already been pondering in Advent? And don’t we need to continue pondering it together over the Christmas season? How to better accept Jesus… How to allow Him to usher us ever more deeply into God’s embrace… For a start, perhaps we might consider these three possibilities. First, to recall some of the blessings we have received from God, and asking to recognise in them the face and voice, the hands and feet of Christ himself. Second, to bring whatever might be weighing heavily on our hearts to the Lord. Asking him to lighten our burdens, and to give us the strength to bear them in a way that befits children of God. And, third, to find fitting ways to share our gifts with those who need them most. Blessings, burdens, and need. Three possible steps for accepting Jesus.
In the CNA video mentioned earlier, Hasan tells us that after receiving his new identity card, he has since found a job and a place in a shelter. He’s also now waiting for a HDB flat. But he still returns to the Night Cafe every week. Brian says it’s because, for Hasan, this is family dinner. In other words, it has become part of his identity. Sisters and brothers, how does the Lord wish to deepen our identity this Christmas?
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