Christmas 2025
Did you ever in your life think that simply saying “Merry Christmas” could ever become offensive – to anyone? Times have certainly changed – and not necessarily for the better. Yet, through it all, there is a definite peace about the earth. Much like the blanket of new fallen snow that silently dampens my backyard, so too the world becomes silent – and yet, something is stirring; something is happening.
Christ is near, and nothing else matters.
We are so unbelievably blessed to live in these times. Six thousand years of human history…and in only 1/3 of that time did people have the chance to know Jesus.
Can you imagine the scene at His birth? The sound of angels singing? The archangels blending their voices in harmony, the cherubim offering their angelic praises, all joining in so as to be part of this singular and holy event. He who was above, is now – if only for a brief time – among us to gain for us our redemption. And now, 2,025 years after the event, how do we commemorate it? By commercializing it. Christmas has become a slogan – not a person – and the birth of Jesus evokes images of Santa Claus, tinsel and decoration to too many. I urge each of you to stop, take a step back and consider the greatest event ever to take place: the day that God lowered Himself to become like you.
Behold now His mother who brings Him forth in a manner of conception we cannot comprehend.
What shall I say? And how shall one describe such a sight as this? For this wonder fills all with astonishment. The Ancient Of Days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He who could be touched, now lies subject to the hands of men. He who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infant’s bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation shall become the measure of His Goodness.
On this day, He assumes our form, and thus God becomes man so that man might become like God. In putting on our flesh, He raises us above the angels. Where He once sent forth Adam and Eve in skins of animals (Gen 3:21) to cover their nakedness, He now glorifies us by covering Himself with our skin. No longer will the sacrifice of animals satisfy our debt for that covenant is superseded.
I therefore invite you to come and observe the feast. Relish in the night when all of nature pauses and rejoice as the devil and his demons take to flight. The power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is removed and truth itself has become incarnate. The distant and unknowable God has come, not only to be with us, but to dwell in us in order to be personally known by us.
He has come, not to chastise, but to encourage, not to scourge, but to heal. To be sure, there will be a chastisement and a scourging and they are long overdue, but it is He who will bear those stripes, not us (but that is another story). So, for now, here’s to Him, who out of confusion and chaos has wrought for us a clear path. To the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, we render all glory and praise to you, Jesus, as once more we celebrate Your meek and humble first coming and await the triumphant and final second coming!
Amen.
By the way…HERE is a truly fascinating account of the importance and the preparation God placed on the night of Jesus’ birth as described by Fr. Carlos Martins.