Readings: Is. 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; John 1:1-18
Christ Needs a Clean Heart to Dwell in!
1. Darry Dixon’s song, ‘Give me a clean heart,’ captures how I should celebrate Christmas. “Give me a clean heart To see You like I should, hey, To walk the path that’s right, To do the things You would, Give me a clean heart, And I will serve nobody but you.” John the Baptist told us to “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.” (Lk. 3:5). “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”, says the Lord, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20) Christ needs a well-kept dwelling place for his new home. Christ needs our hearts to dwell in. He will not force his way in. He respects our free will to let him in or not. Letting Christ into our hearts will experience peace, love, joy, and hope. A heart that bears a grudge or a grievance or keeps malice and refuses to forgive or let go of past hurts has too many things to deal with. Christ can never dwell in such a heart. That heart has no peace, no joy. Such a heart is always complaining and finding faults with others because he has no peace in himself/herself.
2. As we celebrate Christmas today, may we do so with clean hearts and receive Christ joyfully. The first reading captures this joy thus: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing, and saying to Zion, ‘Your God is King!” Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, brings us peace and joy. He brings people together to share what they have with others. And so, we sing with the Psalmist, “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.” When our hearts are free, we feel light and excited about life and want to share with others. An old Navy veteran was asked to choose $100.00 for himself or $500.00 to give randomly to people in the mall. He chose $500.00 to share with other shoppers. At the end of the exercise, he was given $500.00 for himself and broke down in tears. He said he was wondering where he would get money to take care of himself. Christmas miracle is that God shows up when we least expect him to. He is the God of possibilities; nothing shall be impossible for him.
3. The theme of our readings at this Mass is joy and exultation. The birth of Christ is the dawn of a new day and is much more than a superficial celebration of joy. The joy of Christmas goes deeper in all its ramifications. It shows God's love for humanity, the love that transcends mere emotions. For Christ is the communication of God to the world. The second reading tells us that God speaks to us through his Son, “Whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word.” Therefore, Christ came into the world primarily to “Save his people from their sins.” (Mat. 1:21). He came for the liberation of his people: God anointed Christ to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind.
4. Christmas means that we must be Christ to others. As Christ was sent to bring solace to the oppressed and the poor, so must we do whatever we can to alleviate the sufferings of others in our midst. Our Christmas songs should not end on Christmas day but should initiate us into a life of service for others. Howard Thurman reminded us that: “When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all, to make music in the heart.”
5. Let me end this reflection when this Christmas story. On Christmas day, God often celebrates the birth of his Son with all his creatures. He would prepare a big pot of rice and take it to hell to celebrate with the devil and his angels. He would keep the basin of cooked rice in the middle with the devil and his angels seated all around. He would give each of them a long spoon and invite them to enjoy their meal. The long spoon made it challenging to eat as each scoop of rice would fall on the ground. Finally, there was frustration, anger, and resentment, and before long, a quarrel broke out. The devil would not take it any longer; he kicked the basin and spilled the content on the ground. God, the father, got up, thanked them, collected the dirty rice, the basin, and the spoons, and returned to heaven.
6. In heaven, God the father called all the saints together and, placing a bowl of rice in the middle, invited them to celebrate his Son’s birthday. He gave each saint a long spoon and asked them to enjoy the meal. Instead of trying to feed themselves, the saints decided to feed one another. By so doing, they all ate and were satisfied. With this story, we understand that there is a Christmas miracle in the world, but the blessing will not fall from the sky. People are required to create it by themselves. On this Christmas, let us go out and join the many whose concern is to create a Christmas miracle in the lives of those who need it. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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