Bible Study: Isaiah 9, 2 to 7. Titus 2, 11 to 14. And Luke 2, 1 to 14.
The prophet Isaiah defines the whole essence of Christmas for us when he
said in our first reading: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a
great light, and those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light
shined.” Dear Friends, Christmas is a celebration of light, a celebration of
the power of light, a celebration of the victory of light over the destructive
force of darkness.
Just look around you, see the tiny lights sparkling all over the place. Go
the town square, see the wonderful display of lights all over the place, see
how people have covered their streets with millions of light bulbs, see how
much people are ready to even put on their generators to power their decorations
of light all through the night just to feel the spirit of Christmas.
But then, my dear friends, when you look at these lights all over the
place, what does it say to you? What should come to your mind when you see
lights? Some of us are in church today holding our lighted candles. So let us
begin from there. Do you remember the last time you held a lighted candle in
church? What was the message behind that candle? Do you remember you also held
a lighted candle on the day of your baptism? What did the priest say to you
when he handed you over the candle?
“Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning
brightly. This child of yours has been enlightened by Christ. He (she) is to
walk always as a child of the light. May he (she) keep the flame of faith alive
in his (her) heart. When the Lord comes, may he (she) go out to meet him with
all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.”
Do you remember the words of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount: “You are
the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after
lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it
gives light to all in the house. In the same way, LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE
OTHERS, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in
heaven.” Matthew 5, 14 to 16.
So my dear friends, the multiplicity of lights this Christmas should
remind us once again of our essential calling to be the lights in this world of
darkness. That we have left our homes this night to come to church means that we
have decided to walk away from the darkness of sin into the light of Christ and
we are doing this because Jesus, the light of God has come into the darkness of
humanity. No wonder St. Paul admonishes us in the second reading saying we are
to “renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright and
godly lives in this world…” Titus 2, 12.
So my dear brothers and sisters, it is a contradiction that we hang
extra lights in our houses whereas deep inside our hearts, we refuse to hang
radiant lights of holiness, godliness, forgiveness, morality, charity, love,
peace and obedience to all of God’s commandments. It is a contradiction that
while we put up lights for people to see and admire our homes, we do not put up
the kind of lights that the new born baby Jesus himself wants to see. If we
have only hung physical lights and refused to light our inner lives by repenting
from our sinful ways, Christmas would have no real impact whatsoever in our
lives. It would just be like every normal day with its own twenty-four hours
that will pass just like that.
What type of lights are we to put up this season? The light of
repentance and holiness, the light of change and virtue, the light of truth,
justice and morality, the light of Godliness and so on. Unlike the physical Christmas
lights we buy in the market, these lights cannot be brought down, they are
lights that transform our being, lights that remain with us all year round. They
are lights that bring us true joy and enrich our lives deeply. To have seen the
light of Christ and to allow this light penetrate your innermost being is to
experience true joy. This is what makes us happy, that our sins no matter how
many do not define what becomes of our lives, that in the midst of the darkness,
we have God with us and God in us and we can now shine as bright stars.
This is Good News. A good news that first came to shepherds. They were
not the richest persons in the society, they were not the wisest or the most privileged,
they were very much ordinary people like you and I. However, they were not
sleeping under the darkness. They kept vigil. We are keeping a physical vigil
tonight but this vigil is only symbolic of the real vigil we should keep. The vigil
of life, the vigil of shining the light of our goodness, the vigil of keeping
awake and refusing to be mastered by evil, the vigil of never giving up like
watchmen who sleep thereby allowing the thief gain entrance. And we know that
the thief here is the devil who simply comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. This
explains why a lot of atrocities happen at Christmas. Instead of light, many
actually let go of their guards, they bring in more darkness than before, they
relax in their spirits, they drink too much, eat too much, party too much and
end up emitting pure darkness instead of light in the name of catching fun at Christmas.
The angels brought good news to shepherds because their lights were on. The
shepherds were keeping vigil, they exercised watchfulness over their flock. To keep
vigil, we must exercise watchfulness over our passions, our thoughts, or words,
our conversations, we must exercise watchfulness over the kinds of movies,
magazines or internet materials that we view. We must not allow our emotions
run wide, we must not allow our flesh do whatever it feels like. Instead, we
must let the spirit rule and dominate. To allow the spirit rule instead of the
flesh is to let our light shine and position ourselves for Angelic Visitation
and Angelic Carols.
What other form of entertainment can we crave for again other than to
have the angels of God sing for us as they sang for these shepherds? Where else
do we intend to derive joy this season of celebration if not in God himself as
St. Augustine says, our hearts are restless until they rest in God.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, may the light of my very life shine brighter than any
electric bulb I fix in my house this Christmas. Amen.
God bless you. Good evening. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you. Happy Christmas from me, Rev. Fr. Evaristus Abu.
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