Lectionary Readings for Christmas Day I: Psalm 96, Isaiah 9:2-7, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” – Luke 2:15-20
Merry Christmas and Happy Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord!
Today marks the arrival of the Incarnate Word into our world, the birth of the Christ Child, which we’ve been awaiting throughout Advent. Today we celebrate Christ’s First Coming, when the Word that is the Firstborn and Author of all Creation takes human nature upon him, becoming Immanuel, “God with us”. As we hear in the beginning of John’s gospel, read as “The Last Gospel” at the end of masses during Advent, the Incarnation is part of the ultimate act of love and the ultimate triumph of light over darkness: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:1-5).
Today’s portion of Isaiah’s prophecy resonates heavily with the words of John, as Isaiah recounts that a great light has shined upon a people who have been walking in darkness. This metaphor fits not only Isaiah’s account of his own people’s wandering during the Babylonian captivity, and, by extension, without the light of Christ, but also the palpable darkness that we’ve been living with and through in our own day. As has been the case throughout all three years of the ongoing pandemic, there is much suffering, struggle, sickness, and pain in the world. At times, it has been hard to focus on the good because of all of the noise and ongoing evil around us. But, we may take heart in knowing that we have seen and are constantly working toward the glory of God, walking in God’s grace and truth. Isaiah reminds us that, with the ushering in of the kingdom of God at Christ’s Second Coming, all of creation will enter an endless peace that is full of the justice and righteousness of God. While the Second Coming is not yet here, the arrival of the Christ Child in our hearts is a reminder that we can live in such a way that shows and leads others to Christ’s light.
Embracing the Incarnation as an embodied reality also requires that we recognize the weight of Our Lord’s choice to dwell among us. Doing so requires trust in God’s coming kingdom, love for us, and fulfillment of promises. Perhaps the greatest example of this deep, abiding faith comes from the teenage Blessed Virgin Mary’s consent to God’s message to and plan for her, and the radical hymn of praise, thanksgiving, and faith that is The Song of Mary, The Magnificat. Mary heard and believed the words of God that were reported to her by the message of angel, as did the shepherds in today’s gospel reading. We also hear from Luke that, when Mary heard the shepherds’ testimony, “[…] she treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Using our sanctified imaginations, we might see Mary, holding her newborn baby, The Word Made Flesh, and contemplating both the words that she’s just heard from the shepherds and the prophecy that she heard and believed when Gabriel spoke to her during the Annunciation. Her son’s birth is the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise to her, and the first step in the opening of the way of salvation for us. As we continue to believe in and walk in the light of Christ, may we, like Mary, also ponder with love the great mystery of the Incarnation, and rejoice in the good news of Christ’s birth. May we also, like the shepherds, go forth rejoicing, sharing the news and love of God with others. Christmas is not always the easiest time of year, especially for those of us, like myself, who have difficult relationships with our families and/or mourn loved ones during the holidays. Know that there is enough light and joy in Christ to reach us where we hurt, help us heal, and hold us in love; those who have gone before rejoice with us on another shore.
I leave you with the words of the Christmas Matins responsory “O Magnum Mysterium” and Voces8’s recording of Poulenc’s setting of it (the translation below is mine). O Blessed Virgin, pray for us!
O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
iacentem in praesepio.
O beata Virgo, cuius viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Iesum Christum.
Alleluia!
O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals might see the begotten Lord,
lying in a manger.
O Blessed Virgin, whose womb
was worthy of bringing forth the Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!
Harmonia Rosales, “Our Lady of Regla”, oil on panel with gold leaf, 2019.
Africana Anglo-Catholic 