Tad Brain Power

 *CHRISTMAS VIGIL MASS HOMILY! *

Today we have gathered here after a long preparation of four Sundays of Advent to celebrate Christmas, the birthday of our Saviour and master. We Christians believe in the miracle of Jesus' virgin birth, and we also believe that this miracle baby was God incarnate — God becoming human. The newborn Saviour was fully human and fully divine — a mystery that only heaven will fully reveal.

One of the best religion writers Louis Cassels of United Press International was wide read his column of "Religion in America" from 1955-1974. For several years he struggled to find an effective way to communicate the doctrine of the incarnation which he believed to be "the heart of the Christian faith that God has revealed himself in history in the person of Jesus Christ."

In December 1959, Cassels wrote "The Parable of the Birds," which became so popular that it featured in many magazines year after year, and it is still told countless times on every Christmas season.

In his Parable of the Birds, Louis Cassels tells of a man who refuses to go with his family to the Midnight Mass because he cannot understand the incarnation. Left alone at home, he finds a flock of birds in his backyard. Caught in the storm, the little creatures are desperate for shelter. He tries to usher the birds into the barn by sprinkling breadcrumbs along the way. When this fails, he tries to show them in by walking around them, waving his arms in the air. But the birds still do not understand. Finally, he realizes the problem: the birds find him a stranger and a terrifying creature. They do not trust him. He murmurs, “If only I could be a bird for a moment, perhaps I could save them. “At that moment, he hears the church bells ring the good news of Christmas. He sinks to his knees, saying: “Now I see why God has to become one of us.” Why does he have to become a man?

By becoming man, God has, in a certain way, united Himself with every human person. He has revealed to us the truth about who He is – He is Love. He has revealed to us also that every human being has dignity, including the unborn child, the poor, the outcast, the suffering, and the dying. By becoming man, God came to earth to deliver us from sin and death. He came to make all things new to bring about the new creation. He took on our human nature so that we might become partakers of His divine nature, that we become sharers in the life of the Blessed Trinity. “The people who live in darkness have seen a great light.” We live in darkness, but He is light. So God descended into our darkness that we may share in His light.

Yes, our God stoops, he stoops so low to the lowest place, the manger and to find him, and be with him we too must be willing to stoop. God hates pride. He just can’t stand it. With humility, by descending so low to take upon himself the nature of man, he conquers pride. Darkness cannot overpower darkness. Only light can do that. Hate can not defeat hate. Only love can do that. Pride will not defeat Pride. Only humility will do that. So God stoops.

And tonight, God calls us with this same humility. He could have descended from Heaven on a lightning bolt and stunned us into fearful submission. Instead, he goes to the lowest place. He comes quietly, non-violently, without threat, as an infant. But even in this lowly way, he is still calling.

Jesus comes to be born for us. But is there room in the inn of our heart to receive him?

The Gospels tell us “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. But to all who did receive him and believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God.” What could be sadder than to miss this precious gift to become the very Children of God?

But what do we need to do if we are to take this gift of Christ seriously? We have already taken the first step: we have set time aside in which to keep Vigil. We have listened to the word of God, and it is penetrating into our hearts. Tonight we seek to open our hearts again to welcome Christ into our lives, not simply as a consolation in our hardships but as the Master, the Lord, who alone can teach us the way to live each day.

Once again let us be reminded that the great joy of Christmas is that God made himself as we are so that we might ever become what he is – that we, too, may share in the divine life of him who humbled himself to share own humanity. Christmas reminds us that Jesus truly is Emmanuel – God with us – and not only God with us, God who loves us.

Tonight, we are being invited to begin once again a relationship of love with Jesus. As we keep vigil in this Church, we are invited by Christ through the angels who announce his presence to set aside all fear. We are called into the presence of the Christ-child. We are invited to accompany him in his journey from infancy, through childhood, to his adult life and to his death and resurrection; from this Vigil of Christmas night to the Solemn Vigil of Easter night. We are invited to surrender ourselves, the whole of ourselves, into his hands so that he, Christ, may transform us by his word and through his sacraments.

Let us pray: Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.