Christmas – Year A (Mid night mass)
Scriptures: Is. 9:2-4, 6-7; Ps. 96; Tit. 2:11-14; Lk. 2:1-16
Someone has rightly said, God uses small things to accomplish his big plans. We have several examples of our times. These great personalities had a small beginning. They are Dirubhai Ambani, Gautam Adani, MS Dhoni, Abdul Kalam, etc.
One example that will catch our eyes in these days is Lionel Messi. His picture of lifting the FIFA world cup trophy is liked by 71 million on Instagram. It has surpassed a mysterious post of an egg that had 57 million likes in 2019. Lionel Messi has broken all the media records and is a sensation in today’s media.
Was he born with a golden spoon in his mouth? No. He had a humble beginning. He was born in a middle-class Catholic family. He had a love for football. His father coached him but he was short in stature than the boys of his age. He says, he was the smallest in his school batch as well as in his team. He was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency when he was just 11 years old. The family tried to give him medical treatment. They had to stick a needle into his legs in the night for three years. At last, they had to stop the treatment because they did not have money. The clubs refused to play him. He got the opportunity to play in Spain at the age of 13 years. He moved with his family to play for FC Barcelona, the Spanish football club. He exhibited his talent in sports. Today, he is considered a legend of football. Meanwhile, Argentina has won Copa America and the world championship under his captaincy. He is the man of the moment. But he had a small beginning. When he was despised for being small, God had already started his work in him.
Pope Francis says, “God reveals himself through surprises.” We have many examples in the Holy Bible. When Abraham and Sara were childless and were advanced in age. God bless them with Isaac. The sons of Jacob had sold Joseph, their younger brother. He saved them during the days of famine. The Israelites were hungry and thirsty in the forty years of wilderness. God gave them manna and water from the rock (Ex. 16 and 17). Prophet Eliza was fed in the days of famine by a widow with very little flour and oil. (1 King 17:8-11). The people of Israel were rescued by Cyrus, the Persian king from the hands of Babylon. Jesus showed Peter the miraculous catch of fish when he worked the whole night. (Lk. 5:4-11) Jesus fed five thousand men with five fish and two loaves (Mt. 14:13-21). Jesus built the church with the help of twelve men who had twelve different motives to follow him. Each of these examples shows us that there was nothing. If it was there, then it was very less but God worked wonders in it. In each of these incidents, God was at work. We also learn that God never rises up in great things but lowers himself into littleness.
Christmas has a profound message that God chooses littleness as his path to come to us. Let us recall today’s Gospel. The whole Gospel is depicted in the Crib. We noticed a number of things in the crib. There are sheep, cows, donkeys (animals), shepherds, angels, the star, St. Joseph, Mother Mary and Baby Jesus in the manger. (Magi are not in the scene because they will come later on the feast of the epiphany. They are still travelling.) The whole scene is shown in a cowshed in the town of Bethlehem. I have chosen five things from the crib to reflect. They are mainly: the city of Bethlehem, St. Joseph, Mother Mary, No place in Inn and the manger and the shepherds. Each of them are pointing out one reality. What is that reality?
Bethlehem: It was the city of David. He was linked to this city. His great grandparents (Ruth and Boaz, their son Obed to whom Jesse, the father of David was born.) had married here. It was known in the book of Genesis as Ephrath where Rachel died (Jacob’s wife) (Gen. 35:19). At the time of Jesus, the city of Bethlehem was not an important city. It was not a popular city. It was considered the smallest one in the tribe of Judea. Prophet Micah says, O Bethlehem, Epharath a small among the clans of Israel. (Micah 5:2). A city which was forgotten, not spacious, and less important was chosen for Jesus’ birth. God chooses to come to us in littleness. He chose Bethlehem to come to us.
St. Joseph: A man from the tribe of Benjamin. He had his roots in Bethlehem. He is hardly referred to in the New Testament. He is often referred to as a carpenter. His personality comes to us as a silent, humble and obedient person. His life reveals to us that in the solitude of the forgotten places God reveals himself. St. Joseph is not a known figure in our devotion. His name was not in the Eucharistic canon for several centuries. Pope Francis taught us to say it during the mass after 2000 years. He is the only saint to whom we can ask any favours. He is the patron saint of the universal church. God chose St. Joseph. He was a simple ordinary and poor man. God chooses St. Joseph to come to us in his littleness.
Mother Mary: We have made enough reflections on Mary’s humility. The angel had told her that she was highly favoured in the eyes of God yet she saw herself as the smallest. In her humility, she went to her cousin to serve her. Mary chose to stay hidden during the ministry of Jesus. She was a simple pleasant young girl. She was not known to anyone. She was nothing in the eyes of society. God chose her to come to us in her littleness.
The shepherds: We find many references to shepherds in the bible. The mention of shepherds in the nativity scene has a better connotation. They became the first evangelists of good news. But the biblical understanding of God choosing them to be the first witnesses is wonder striking. They are nameless in the Gospels. It means to say that they had no existence. Paul Maier says the shepherds stood for the cross-sectional, average Judeans and men of the night shift. They had no ranking in society. They were considered outcasts like prostitutes and tax collectors. They were dirty because they remained with the sheep. They never attended temple services. They were called thieves because they trespassed on someone’s land/field at the night. They were nothing in the eyes of society. God chose them to come to us in her littleness.
The setting of Jesus’ birth (Manger there was no place in the inn): I had no deeper understanding till the moment I read another interpretation of this passage. The scriptures tell us that there was no place in the inn for Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem. The original translation throws light on this topic. It reveals the true meaning of the passage. The New Testament is written in Greek. Kataluma means a guest room or inner room. A similar word is used when Jesus and his disciples had their last supper in the upper room. The word pantechnicon is used for an inn in the parable of good Samaritan. Joseph and Mary had not gone to the inn but they had gone to their own ancestral house. The house was full because many had come to register their names. It means to say that they were rejected by their own family. They deliberately chose not to receive Jesus. He was born in a place where the travellers had tied their animals. Jesus was in a stable. He was placed as a manager. The first bed of Jesus on earth. It was dirty. A place where animals were fed. Can we think of a place for the birth of God’s son? God chose a such place to come to us.
You have a simple message tonight. Jesus comes to us in littleness. It is the path that he chooses to come to us. There is a challenge of Christmas to recognize God. When we have an idea of God: a big – mighty –all powerful. He becomes tiny – weak – powerless. When he is a creator but now he becomes a creature. When he has the power to help the entire human race, he becomes helpless. Can we recognize him in a simple/humble form?
This Christmas, we need to ask God to give us the grace of littleness so that we may recognize Him in every little thing. We need to recognize him in our frailty, sufferings, sickness, weakness, humiliation, abandonment and in our messed up life. We need to recognize Jesus in the simple bread. He makes himself food for us. Let us not get discouraged. Let us not get disoriented on our small beginnings. But let us remember God reveals to us through surprises. He did not save us in his greatness like a king. He did not fight wars. He did not sit on the throne. He chose Bethlehem – a forgotten city, Joseph and Mary – the simple and humble couple, the shepherd – the outcasts and the manger – to be the life-giving bread. He chose lowliness. He became man. He chose to come in the form of bread.
God desires to come to us in littleness. Do we return to him in our littleness?
