Christmas Homily

We stand before a little child, all powerful God, the Light of the world, the prince of peace, yet he is so little that he paradoxically depends on us for his own security. We rejoice, not because He is all powerful, but rather because God has kept His promise to our Father Abraham. The Word who was God, chose man for his existence. He has chosen us to be part of His divinity.

He kept his promise by taking on our flesh, the flesh of man, a weak and unfaithful man. It was in this weakness that He chose to show us power, the power that God had bestowed on humanity.  It is in the same flesh that He makes us discover that man is not synonymous with weakness. He has chosen our own weakness that we may find the path of faithfulness. It is not my will that your will be done. He will learn it from his own mother, from man, true fidelity. Let it be done for me, according to your will. Faithfulness has brought us this child.

Before this will, nothing was given in detail. Neither Mary nor Joseph knew that this child would not find his place, his rightful place on earth. In the beginning, darkness gave way to light. Today, the darkness has rejected the light. What a change in man's behaviour and what a debasement for a Creator God before this man! God has chosen to bear all things. God bears with us and brings us the Light, the Light of Christ.

Christmas is not only a religious celebration, but also a family celebration. A gathering of its members, simply to be together. A strong and nourishing moment.  We are invited to discover this child in his simplicity. He is not dressed in a luxurious garment, waiting for the heavenly gift. A little child seeks only the presence of his parents, the warmth of his mother. God comes to meet us in this child, like a beggar, seeking this human warmth, seeking our warm presence.

Christmas is a moment of encounter. God comes to visit us so that we accept this Light and make it our own, in our hearts, in our homes and in every human encounter. The Gospel tells us that the world has not recognised him and his own people have not received him. It is true that it is still looking for Him, like the Magi in a palace, like a miracle worker, who will make disappear the killing virus. Let us not look for Him in the palace, nor in the manger, or as a miracle worker but in the heart of every living being, including our own heart. After celebrating the mystery of the Eucharist, let us enter the house, let us meet Him at the table, in the living room, in every conversation, in every exchange we can have with each other. Let us not be satisfied with receiving gifts, but rather let us receive ourselves, in joy and happiness. Let us discover the presence of God in every human encounter.

The Gospel tells us once again that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory". I have just received a beautiful Christmas message from a friend in Toulouse and would like to share with you, "We live in an 'age of barbed wire and walls', where the value of life visibly loses its meaning from conception until death. Joseph's temptation (to give up easily and quietly) and Mary's fear (of life's unforeseen events) characterise contemporary convictions. In the midst of the "shipwreck of civilisation" and a culture of violence and death, Christmas comes to resurrect the sacredness of life. May the Child of Bethlehem regenerate in us an unwavering devotion to life and inspire our choices to respect it so that we may be responsible ambassadors for life, and may we be witnesses to the divine glory, Amen.