{"id":5809,"date":"2010-12-09T15:48:54","date_gmt":"2010-12-09T21:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=5809"},"modified":"2011-08-03T16:23:53","modified_gmt":"2011-08-03T21:23:53","slug":"another-christmas-day-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/09\/another-christmas-day-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Christmas Day Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have had several pastors tell me that they always<\/span> use the Luke reading for all<\/span> the Christmas Masses, because it’s the only one that tells “the Christmas story.” Presumably, people would rise up and smite a preacher who did not preach on the Christmas story. <\/em>I have now heard this enough now that I will assume it is conventional wisdom.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to preach on Christmas day, so I took advantage of this to preach on John 1. In fact, I used it as an opportunity to preach on how we might think of this text in connection with the Christmas story. No one rose up; no one smote me; no one even said, “Why didn’t you read the Christmas story?” In fact, a couple of people said they liked the homily. <\/em><\/p>\n

So here is the conventional-wisdom-transgressing homily.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>The Web browser programs that we use
\nto navigate the World Wide Web on the internet
\ntypically have an option under the “view” menu
\nthat is called something like “source” or “page source.”
\nIf you click on this, it reveals to you
\nthat the beautiful and elegant (or ugly and confusing)
\nweb page that you are looking at
\nis actually made up of a series of codes
\nwritten in a language called HTML
\n(hypertext markup language)
\nthat web designers use to tell your computer
\nwhere to insert pictures,
\nwhat text to bold or italicize,
\nwhere to break paragraphs, and so forth.
\nIt doesn\u2019t have the “user-friendliness”
\nof a well-designed web page,
\nit doesn\u2019t have the attractive details
\nthat catch the eye,
\nbut there is something fascinating,
\nat least for those with a certain type of mind,
\nin getting a glimpse “behind the scenes,”
\nto see the web page from the perspective of its designer,
\nto get a sense of the complexity underlying
\nwhat presents itself so attractively on our computer screens.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Gospel is a bit like clicking
\nthe “view page source” menu on the Christmas story.
\nAccording to the tradition of the Church,
\non Christmas morning we do not read
\nLuke\u2019s familiar account of the Christmas story,
\nbut rather the prologue with which John\u2019s Gospel opens:
\n“In the beginning was the Word,
\nand the Word was with God,
\nand the Word was God.”<\/p>\n

John does not offer us the eye-catching, user-friendly details
\nthat we find in Luke:
\nno inn without a vacancy,
\nno Christ child placed in the manger,
\nno angels,
\nno the shepherds.
\nInstead of Jesus, we are told of the Word:
\nthe Word who is in the beginning with God
\nand who, at the same time,
\nin some mysterious manner,
\n is <\/em>God.
\nWe are told that the world
\ncame into being through this Word,
\nand yet does not know him.
\nAnd, perhaps most strangely of all,
\nwe are told that the Word has become flesh
\nand made his dwelling among us,
\nand has given power to become children of God
\nto those who believe in his name.<\/p>\n

It can seem, at first, as baffling as HTML code.
\nBut what John is offering us
\nis a glimpse “behind the scenes” of the Christmas story,
\nan opportunity to see from the perspective of its designer,
\nto get a sense of the deep mystery that underlies
\nwhat presents itself so attractively in Luke\u2019s Gospel.<\/p>\n

Most of us find our hearts moved
\nby the story of Joseph and the pregnant Mary,
\nhomeless and unprotected.
\nWe find attractive the simplicity of the image of Christ
\nborn amidst the animals in the barn.
\nWe thrill to the angels\u2019 announcement to the shepherds:
\n“Glory to God in the highest
\nand peace to God\u2019s people on earth!”<\/p>\n

In comparison, John\u2019s Gospel might seem cold and cerebral:
\nLuke gives us baby Jesus;
\nJohn gives us the eternal Word.<\/p>\n

But we ought to realize
\nthat they are both telling us the same story.
\nThe child in the manger is<\/em> the eternal Word,
\nwho has taken on our flesh, our human nature,
\nso that we too might be God\u2019s children.
\nJohn\u2019s Gospel shows us the eternal source that lies behind
\nthe moving, attractive, thrilling events in Bethlehem of Judea.<\/p>\n

With a story as well known and pleasing
\nas Luke\u2019s account of the nativity,
\nthere is always the danger
\nthat we might sentimentalize the entry of Christ into our world.
\nWe can begin to think that Christmas is all about
\nbabies with rosy cheeks
\nand shepherds with cute lambs
\nand angels that look like pretty ladies with wings and halos.
\nOur Gospel this morning reminds us
\nthat Christmas is about God transacting
\nthe serious and unsentimental business
\nof the world\u2019s salvation.
\nOur glimpse behind the scenes in Bethlehem shows us
\nthat Christmas is about God taking on our human nature
\nso that God,
\nthrough the bitter suffering of the cross
\nand the glory of the resurrection,
\nmight bestow upon us a share in God\u2019s own immortality.
\nAs St. Athanasius of Alexandria put it:
\nGod became human
\nso that human beings might become divine.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s Gospel reminds us that this is the real Christmas story.
\nAnd this glimpse behind the scenes
\nshould lead us to marvel even more
\nthat God would transact
\nsuch serious and unsentimental business
\nin the little town of Bethlehem,
\nby means of a young mother,
\nand some shepherds,
\nand a child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to preach on Christmas day, so I took advantage of this to preach on John 1. In fact, I used it as an opportunity to preach on how we might think of this text in connection with the Christmas story. No one rose up; no one smote me; no one even said, “Why didn’t you read the Christmas story?” In fact, a couple of people said they liked the homily.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1321],"tags":[562,589],"class_list":["post-5809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies","tag-christmas","tag-john-1"],"yoast_head":"\nAnother Christmas Day Homily - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/09\/another-christmas-day-homily\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Another Christmas Day Homily - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to preach on Christmas day, so I took advantage of this to preach on John 1. 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