Homily: Solemnity of Christmas
December 25, 2024
My dear brothers and sisters, we are celebrating the solemnity of Christmas, Christmas is a special feast we commemorate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Let me begin by saying merry Christmas to you all. In this special solemnity, we commemorate God’s covenant of love for us His Children. The coming of Christ is a mega God’s love gift which God packaged and gave to us on Christmas. Parents usually know the best gift for their kids. I watched a footage on social media of a parent gifting their son a giant new kid’s bicycle as a Christmas gift. The joys of this young boy knew no bounds. He almost flew like an eagle to embrace the dad and say thank you.
Parents really know the heartbeat of their kids. They know what would make them happy, what would be useful to them and what would be harmful to them too. God as our Father out of His gratuitous and unconditional love for us knows that the best gift that has an everlasting value for us His children is Jesus Christ Himself. On Christmas day, He gave us this gift. Brothers and sisters, let us keep an eye on this gift. The eternal plan of God surpasses our finite human minds. When we see the circumstances that surrounded the birth of Jesus, we can see that God started from Jesus’ birth to reveal His thinking to us.
Most times in our world, humans are convinced that evil can only be destroyed by power, deceit, money, corruption, that violence can only be eliminated by even greater violence, that bloody wars can be ended only by even bloodier ones. Jesus came and taught us to discard this worldly way of thinking, He willingly chose poverty and weakness. He was born in an obscure village, son of a peasant woman. He worked as a carpenter until He was thirty-three when He became an itinerant preacher that never had a home. He never wrote a book, and he never held any public office. Even the angel’s announcement to the shepherds about His birth was most disconcerting. They were not told for instance that you would see a child wrapped in light, with the face of an angel, surrounded by millions of angels and the melodious voice of the angelic choirs of Cherubim and Seraphim warming the environment. No, they were told instead that you would see a child kept in a manger in an animal pen. This characteristic can be attributed to the poorest of the poor.
Yet over twenty centuries have come and gone in the world, till today Jesus is the central figure of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were built, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned put together have not affected the life of man on earth as has Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, let us keep an eye on this Christmas present, the gift of Jesus which God gave to us. Jesus is the best gift God has ever given us.
As we reflect on God’s gift of Jesus to us, let me cease this opportunity too to say thanks to you all for your gifts in talents, time, money, commitment to keep our parish going. Sometimes, I do not even know where to start and where to stop; Is it the commitment of my co-workers in our parish office, the commitment of the volunteers who serve as members of the parish council, the property and finance council and other committees that oversee the life of the parish? What of the volunteers who take several hours to do repairs in the rectory and in the Church, our musicians, readers, children liturgy leaders, ushers, Eucharistic ministers, counters, altar servers, decorators, the CWL and the Knights of Columbus? Many put in their hard-earned resources in offerings and donations for the upkeep of the parish. Fr Charles is grateful to you all. Those who wished me merry Christmas through words of mouth, Christmas card, and gifts, thank you! I keep you all in my prayers and while celebrating at the altar of God. Once more, merry Christmas to you all.
