It's Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone.  Finally the day is here.  As you may have guessed, I didn't write a formal homily for Christmas Eve: the children did a wonderful job of directing my thoughts toward the true meaning of gift, and especially the reality that gifts come in packages of various makings, and seem to arrive by means of a whole bunch of different experiences.  Would that we could all have the eyes of children, and the honesty to speak what we see!

Here then is the adult version, perhaps a little less magical but nonetheless offered for consideration:

Real giving
 
What’s Christmas all about?  Children learn about this festival, first as a time for magic, for the receiving of gifts … but as adults, we learn (some of us more slowly than others) that the true beauty of this festival has more to do with giving than with receiving.

This is a time for looking back at the year that was, for celebrating our achievements, for thanking God first of all for the blessings we have received.  This is a time to recognize how blessed we are in so many ways.

This year, Canadians look back at the year that was and give thanks for the gift of sport which was celebrated in the Olympic Games in Vancouver earlier this year.  We also give thanks for the gift of our families and friends, for the gift of being able to celebrate our faith, for the gift of fortune that is ours, in whatever way it has come to us.

We also look back at this year and recognize the many ways that faith has been present in our world.  This faith has allowed many to overcome great suffering in places such as Port-au-Prince, Haiti and parts of Chile where our brothers and sisters have had the misfortune of facing major changes in their lives.  This faith has also been the source of inspiration for others of our brothers and sisters in places like the Gulf of Mexico where oil spills caused major ecological imbalance and harm earlier this year, and in places where there is war and discord throughout our world like Afghanistan and North Korea.

Tonight we have listened once again to the story of our Saviour’s birth, but have we truly appreciated the gift that was offered to us so many centuries ago, that is still offered to us today?  God, the creator of all things, chose to become one of us, a supreme gift of ultimate love, in order to show us the depth of his love.  He did this because love drives us to demand more of ourselves, to dream big, to reach beyond our own capabilities in order to bring about good for those we love.

God’s love for us has brought light into the midst of our darkness.  Because he chose to give of himself, we have the example of ultimate love, and therefore we can love all the more.  Because he has faith in us, the fruit of his creation, we too can have faith even in the face of tragedy.  Yet, try as we might, we can only glimpse shadows of the love that is offered for us.

On a night like this, we listen to the words that speak to us of a gift of ultimate grace, we hear once again the story of a people who once walked in darkness, but do we truly believe that this good news, proclaimed to us by a child born in a stable, is true?  We must believe this.  We must because God has entrusted this joyful news to us, and asks us to share it with others.  Ours is the task of passing on the word through our own belief, through our deeds of mercy, through our willingness to make a difference.

Our world experiences more than its fair share of trial.  This year, dare to be a sign of hope, a sign of love, a bearer of good tidings and joy.  Imagine how much our world needs such good news, and imagine what a different place it would be if it actually believed.  Merry Christmas!