Christmas Stories from Father Tony Kadavil
1) Origin of the Christmas celebration: Many scholars believe that Christmas came to be placed on December 25th in order to counteract a pagan celebration called the Birth of the Unconquered Sun. The Romans called their winter holiday
Saturnalia, honoring the god of agriculture, Saturn. Later the Kalends of January were observed to celebrate the triumph of life over death. The entire season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun., or Saturnalia. Since December 25th was around the date of the winter solstice (the year’s shortest day, after which the days begin to lengthen again showing the victory of the sun over darkness), it was chosen as the date of rejoicing. When Christianity was approved as the official religion of the Roman Empire, the Church chose this day to celebrate the birth of the true Sun – the Son of God Who conquers the power of darkness. Another theory gives Biblical support for celebrating Christmas on the 25th of December. It claims that the annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah occurred during the feast of Yom Kippur, around September 25th, placing the birth of John after nine months on June 25th. Since the angel tells Mary that Elizabeth is in the sixth month of her pregnancy, the Annunciation event and the conception of Jesus took place around March 25th leading to Jesus’ birth after nine months, around December 25th. Where did the name Christmas originate? In medieval times, the celebration of Christmas took the form of a special Mass said at midnight on the eve of Christ’s birth. Since this was the only time in the Catholic Church year when a midnight Mass was allowed, it soon became known in the Old English as Christes Masse (Christ’s Mass), from which is derived Christmas. (Fr. Tony Kadavil) Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).2) Thanks for listening: In the
Cable TV episodes Inside the Actor’s Studio, James Lipton invites
celebrities – famous actors, writers and directors – to talk about their
careers and how they do what they do. And he always ends each episode the same
way, with one particular question: “If you believe that God exists, what do you
think He will say to you when you finally see Him?” It’s a good question, by
the way, to ask ourselves periodically. It can make for an interesting
examination of conscience. Anyway: on this episode, the person James Lipton was
interviewing was Steven Spielberg. Lipton asked him that final question: “What
do you hope God will say to you when you finally see Him?” And Spielberg
thought for a moment and smiled. He replied: “’Thanks for listening.”
— So much of the Christmas story is, truly, about listening. When Gabriel
arrives to bring Mary the news that she will bear a child…she listens. When the
angel tells Joseph in his dreams what is about to happen…he listens. The
shepherds listen when the angel announces the “good news of great joy.” Two
thousand years later, we confront this stunning message – “tidings of comfort
and joy,” as the carol describes it – and our hearts swell with the sentiment
of the season. We hear. But are we paying attention? Are we listening? Christmas
invites us to listen. (Deacon
Greg Kandra). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) “Man, you don’t mess around when you’re hungry!” Have
you heard about the little boy who loved going to Church? He enjoyed the music,
the stained-glass windows, the homily, and the fellowship. The only part about
going to Church that the little boy didn’t like, were those long personal
prayers which the pastor added to the intercessory prayers! Then on Christmas,
the little boy’s parents invited the pastor home for lunch… and would you
believe it, his mom asked the pastor to pray the prayer of thanksgiving before
the meal. “Oh, no,” thought the little boy, “We will never get to eat. I am
starving, and he will pray forever.” But to his surprise, the pastor’s prayer
was brief and to the point. He said, “O Lord, bless this home. Bless this food,
and use us in your service, in Jesus Name. Amen.” The little boy was so
astonished by the pastor’s short prayer that he couldn’t help himself. He
looked at the pastor and blurted out what he was thinking: “Man, you don’t mess
around when you’re hungry!” — Well, I don’t want to “mess around” on this
Christmas Day because I know that whether we realize it or not… we are hungry.
We are all hungry for God. We are all hungry for our Savior. We are all hungry
for Christmas… because, you see, this is precisely what Christmas is all about.
We need a Savior, we are starved for a Savior, a Savior is given in Jesus, and
the name “Jesus” means literally “The Lord is Salvation,” or “Yahweh Saves,” or
“Savior.” Jesus came at Christmas to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
He came to save us from our sins. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) “And all mankind will see God’s salvation.” Every
year, the former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura used to send out a
Christmas card with a Bible verse on it. For Christmas 2001, when the country
was still coming to terms with the September 11th attacks, the Bushes decided
to choose a verse that conveyed their Faith and Hope. They picked this verse
from the Psalms: “I believe I shall see the goodness of the
Lord in the land of the living.” [An interview with First Lady Laura
Bush by Ellen Levin, Good Housekeeping (Jan. 2002), pp. 105,
130.] That is the promise of Christmas. Isaiah put it like this: “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.'” –That is the hope that sustains us in good times and bad. We
shall see God’s salvation. Christ came because the world needed saving. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) “We’ll all be home for Christmas.” Senator
John McCain spent 5½ years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam in the 1960s. During
that time, he was frequently tortured or held in solitary confinement. He
reports that his lowest point came on Christmas Eve 1969. McCain was giving up
hope of ever getting out of Vietnam alive. To compound his homesickness, the
captors played the song “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” over the PA system. Just
then, McCain heard tapping on his cell wall. This was the communication code the
POWs used to communicate with one another. On the other side of the wall was
Ernie Bruce, a Marine who had been imprisoned for four years already. In spite
of his dire situation, Bruce was tapping out, “We’ll all be home for Christmas.
God bless America.” These simple words of comfort restored John McCain’s hope.
[Senator John McCain, “The tapping on the Wall,” Ladies’ Home Journal (July
2002), pp. 107-111.] — The message of Christmas is always one of Hope. This
world needs saving, but God began that process of salvation two thousand years
ago with the birth of a Baby in Bethlehem. There’s something about Christmas
that elevates us. Christmas is about hope of a better world to come. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) Camel on the roof of royal palace: The
king of Balkh (northern Afghanistan) named Ebrahim ibn Adam was wealthy
according to every earthly measure. At the same time, however, he sincerely and
restlessly strove to be wealthy spiritually as well. One night the king was
roused from sleep by a fearful stumping on the roof above his bed. Alarmed, he
shouted: “Who’s there?” “A friend,” came the reply from the roof. “I’ve lost my
camel.” Perturbed by such stupidity, Ebrahim screamed: “You fool! Are you
looking for a camel on the roof?” “You fool!” the voice from the roof answered.
“Are you looking for God in silk clothing, and lying on a golden bed?”
The story goes on, according to Jesuit theologian Walter G. Burghardt, to tell
how these simple words filled the king with such terror that he arose from his
sleep to become a most remarkable saint. — Every Christmas Jesus asks the same
question to each one of us: “Where are you looking for Me? In the majestically
adorned and illuminated cathedrals or in the stables of the poor and the
needy?” Tonight’s Scripture readings tell us where to look for Christ the
Savior. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
7) “No Room in the Inn:” The Taj
Mahal is one of the most beautiful and costly tombs ever built, but there is
something fascinating about its beginnings. In 1629, when the favorite wife of
Indian ruler Shah Jahan died, he ordered that a magnificent tomb be built as a
memorial for her. The Shah placed his wife’s casket in the middle of a parcel
of land, and construction of the temple literally began around it. But several
years into the venture, the Shah’s grief gave way to a passion for the project.
One late evening while he was surveying the sight, he reportedly stumbled over
a wooden box in the dark , and he had some workers to remove it and put it in a
common storehouse. It was months before he realized that his wife’s casket that
had been carelessly kept in a common store along with useless articles.
The original purpose for the memorial became lost in the details of
construction. [Dr. James Dobson, Coming Home, Timeless Wisdom for
Families (Tyndale House: Wheaton, 1998), 122, & “Story of
Christless Christmas,” taken from Max Lucado, The Applause of Heaven,
pp. 131-132.] –This seemingly unrealistic ancient legend is a painfully
relevant parable of the way some people celebrate Christmas today.
Sometimes we become so involved in the tasks and details of Christmas that
we forget the One we are honoring. Five little words in the Gospel of
Luke say it all: “No Room in the Inn.” Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) The golden rice grains: There is
a beautiful poem by the mystic poet of India, Rabindra Nath Tagore, extolling
the reward of generous giving. It tells the story of a king who
regularly visited his people, passing through the streets in a chariot.
One morning as the king was passing by, a beggar woman who planned to ask
him for alms, stood on the roadside with her begging bowl. As
the king approached her, however, he descended from his chariot and
stretched out his hand as though he was expecting a gift from the
woman. Excited and surprised, the woman put her hand in the cotton
bag on her shoulder, took out a pinch of rice, and with trembling hands gave it
to the king. The king was well pleased; he smiled at her put her offering
in his pocket and gave her back a pinch of grains from his other pocket.
When the woman returned to her small hut that evening and
examined the grains, she had gotten that day, she was surprised to find a few
grains of gold in the rice. You can imagine both her
surprise and despair when she realized she should have given all her
rice grains to the king. — We are here to offer our gifts to Child Jesus in the
manger as His birthday gift. Let us remember that Jesus does not want our
material gifts as much as He wants ourselves, with all our weakness and
temptations, our merits and demerits. Let our Christmas gift to him be a heart
full of love and a strong and sincere resolution to share it generously with
others. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) “I want somebody who has skin on.” Leonard
Griffith, the outstanding pastor in Toronto, tells the story of a mother who
was putting her little daughter to bed in the midst of a thunderstorm. She told
her daughter that she did not need to be frightened, that her mother and father
were close by in the living room. The girl replied to her mother, “Mommy, but
when it thunders this way, I want somebody who has skin on.” — This simple,
homely story, in essence, is the essential truth of our text. The invisible spirit
of God did clothe himself in skin, flesh, and blood and came to dwell among us
with grace and truth. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
10) God’s Christmas Gift:
Would you like to know what is on record as the most expensive Christmas gift
in the world? It is the Phoenix 1000. This is a 213-foot personal luxury
submarine. Maybe there is a couple out there that lives on Lake Lanier and this
is something you could buy to impress all of your friends. This is the single
largest private underwater vehicle ever built that has a total interior area of
5000 square feet. It can make transatlantic crossings at 16 knots. A small
automobile can be kept in the aft section of this submarine; it even has a mini
sub complete with its own docking area that can take your guests down to 2000
feet. Wrap it up and bring it home for only $78 million dollars! — The Phoenix
1000 may be the most expensive Christmas gift in history, but it is not the
most valuable Christmas gift, nor even is it the costliest. The Christmas gift
that I want to talk about tonight is God’s Christmas Gift. It is His Son Jesus
as our Savior. Though it is the most valuable and most costly gift ever given –
get this – it is absolutely free. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
11) A Christmas Carol, by
Charles Dickens, is all about Ebenezer Scrooge, the mean banker who hoards all
his money, and goes around saying, “Bah! Humbug!” On Christmas Eve, he is visited
by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. Then
he wakes up on Christmas morning, and finds out he’s been given a second
chance. He buys the biggest goose for Bob Crachett and Tiny Tim, is reconciled
with his family, serves everyone, and loves everyone for the rest of his life.
— What makes this such a great story is that Scrooge wakes up on Christmas and
decides to spend his life consciously loving and serving others, to live every
day as if it were Christmas, loving and serving Christ in everyone. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
12) “I Wish I could Be a Brother Like
That:” Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas
present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was
walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. “Is this your car, Mister?” he
asked. Paul nodded. “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was
astounded. “You mean your brother gave it to you, and it didn’t cost you
nothing? Boy, I wish…” He hesitated. Of course, Paul knew what he was going to
wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad
said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels. “I wish,” the boy went on,
“that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in
astonishment, then impulsively he added, “Would you like to take a ride in my
automobile?” “Oh yes, I’d love that.” After a short ride, the boy turned and
with his eyes aglow, said, “Mister, would you mind driving in front of my
house?” Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted
to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was
wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked. He ran
up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not
coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on
the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him
for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And someday I’m gonna give you one
just like it…then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the
Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.” Paul got out and
lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother
climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. —
That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said: “It is more
blessed to give…” [Dan Clark. From Chicken Soup for the Soul (1992),
pp. 25-26.] Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) Erik’s Jesus in rags: A Christmas story: [“Erik’s
Old Man,” by Nancy Dahlberg. From Chicken Soup for the Christian
Soul (1997), pp. 307-309.] It was Sunday, Christmas Day.
After the holidays in San Francisco we were driving back home to Los
Angeles. We stopped for lunch in King City. The restaurant was
nearly empty. We were the only family and ours were the only children. I
heard Erik, my one-year-old, squeal with glee. “Hithere,” the two words
he always thought were one. “Hithere,” and he pounded his fat baby hands-
whack, whack, whack – on the metal highchair. His face was alive with
excitement, his eyes were wide, gums bared in a toothless grin. He
wriggled and giggled. Then I saw the source of his merriment: an old, dirty
smelly bum in rags. He spoke to Erik: “Hi there, baby. Hi
there, big boy, I see ya, Buster.” My husband and I exchanged a look that
was a cross between “What do we do?” and “Poor devil.”
Our meal came, and the banging and the noise
continued. Now the old bum was shouting across the room and Erik
continued to laugh and answer, “Hithere.” Every call was echoed.
Nobody thought it was cute. The guy was a drunk and a disturbance.
I was embarrassed. My husband, Dennis, was humiliated. Dennis went
to pay the check, imploring me to get Erik and meet him in the parking
lot. “Lord, just let me get out of here before he speaks to me or Erik,”
and I bolted for the door. It soon was obvious that both the Lord and
Erik had other plans. As I drew closer to the man on my way out, Erik, with his
eyes riveted on his new friend, leaned over my arm, reaching up
with his in a baby’s “pick-me-up position.” In the split-second of
balancing my baby, I came eye-to-eye with the old man. Erik was lunging for
him, arms spread wide. The bum implored me: “Would you let me
hold your baby?” There was no need for me to answer since Erik propelled
himself from my arms into those of the bum. Suddenly a very old man and a
very young baby consummated their love relationship.
Erik laid his tiny head upon the man’s ragged shoulder.
The man’s eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath the lashes.
His aged hands, rough and worn from hard labor, gently
cradled and stroked my baby. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked
and cradled Erik in his arms for a moment. Then he opened his eyes,
looked into mine, and said in a firm voice: “You take care of this
baby.” And somehow, I managed to say, “I will.” At last the bum handed
Erik to me. As I held my arms open to receive my baby, the old man
said, “God bless you, Ma’am. You’ve given me my Christmas gift.” I said
nothing more than a muttered “thanks.” With Erik in my arms, I ran for the
car. Dennis wondered why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly.
And why I was saying, “My God, forgive me. Forgive me” Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14) Will you take Christ home with you this
Christmas? When a little boy named Davis
came to Christmas morning Mass with his parents, he was surprised to
find that baby Jesus was not in the Nativity Set. His parents
immediately went into the sacristy and asked the pastor who had removed the
Baby Jesus. The pastor rushed to the crib only to realize that some
miscreants had stolen the Baby from the manger after the Midnight Mass.
Later, during the morning Mass, the pastor informed the congregation of
the theft and told them that he couldn’t understand the motive behind such a
callous act. Then, he asked them to see that the Baby Jesus was returned.
The manger, however, remained empty.
Later that afternoon, depressed and sad, the pastor was
walking through the wintry streets when he saw his neighbor, little Tommy.
Shabbily dressed against the cold, Tommy was proudly walking with a new, bright
red wagon. The pastor knew how much his parents must have scrimped
and saved to buy him the wagon. With a surge of Christmas spirit,
the pastor wished Tommy a Merry Christmas and congratulated him on his
beautiful Christmas gift. It was then that he noticed that Tommy’s new red
wagon wasn’t empty. The Baby Jesus stolen from the church lay on a
pillow in the wagon. The pastor was disappointed. He told Tommy that
stealing was wrong, and that the entire parish had been hurt by his
action. Wiping from his cheeks the flowing penitential tears, Tommy said,
“But, Father, I didn’t steal Jesus! It wasn’t like that at all. I’ve been
asking Jesus for a red wagon for Christmas for a long time, and, you see, I
promised Him when I got it, He’d be the first one I took out for a ride. I kept
my promise and now I am on my way to the church to bring Baby Jesus home!”
— Each Christmas invites us to take Jesus to our home, because the
only inn where He cares to find shelter is the inn of our hearts.
If, like the pastor in our story, we have misjudged others, we can take Jesus
home with us by asking their forgiveness. If someone has hurt
us, we can forgive him or her. Let’s make this a Christmas of
reconciliation, love, peace and joy. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
15) O Henry’s story of sacrificial Christmas
sharing: “Gift of the Magi”: A brief retelling of this
old, but touching story is as follows: It was Christmas Eve, during
the days of the Depression of the 1930’s. Della and James, a newly
married couple, were very poor. They loved each other dearly, but money
was hard come by. In fact, as Christmas approached, they were unhappy
because they had no money to buy presents for each other. They had two possessions
that they valued deeply: James had a gold watch which had belonged to his
father, and Della had long and beautiful brown hair. Della knew
that James’ watch had no matching chain–only a worn-out leather strap. A
matching chain would be an ideal gift for her husband, but she lacked the money
to buy it. As she stood before the mirror, her eyes fell on her long
tresses. She was very proud of her beautiful hair, but she knew what she
had to do. She faltered a moment, but nothing could stand in the way of
love. She hastened to the “hair-dealers,” sold her hair for twenty
dollars, and went around shop after shop, hunting for the ideal gift. At
last she found it: a matching chain for her husband’s watch. She was very
happy and proud of the gift. She knew he would love it, the fruit of her
sacrifice. James came in, beaming with love, proud of the gift he had
bought for Della. He knew she would be very happy with the
gift. But when he saw her, his face fell. She thought he was angry
at what she had done. She tried to console him by saying that her hair
would grow fast, and soon it would be as beautiful as before. That is
when he gave her his gift. It was an expensive set of combs, with
gem-studded rims. She had always wanted them for her hair!
She was very happy, but with a tinge of sadness. She knew it would be
some time before she could use the precious gift. Then, with tears in her
eyes, she presented him with the gift she had bought. As he looked at the
beautiful chain, he said with a sigh: “I guess our gifts will have to wait for
some time. The combs were very expensive; I had to sell my watch to
buy the combs!” –These were the perfect gifts: gifts of sacrificial
love. Both James and Della were very happy for, like the Magi, they had
discovered LOVE through self-sacrifice. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
16) Two babies in the manger? In
1994, two Christian missionaries answered an invitation from the Russian
Department of Education to teach morals and ethics in a large orphanage.
About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care
of a government-run program were in the orphanage. It was nearing Christmas and
the missionaries decided to tell them the story of Christmas. It would be
the first time these children heard the story of the birth of Christ.
They told the children about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem.
Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the Baby Jesus
was born and placed in a manger. Throughout the story, the children and
the orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. When the story was
finished, the missionaries gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to
make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from
yellow napkins that the missionaries had brought with them since no colored
paper was available. Following instructions, the children tore the paper
and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel,
cut from a worn-out nightgown discarded by a tourist, were used for the baby’s
blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt which the missionaries
had also brought with them. It was all going smoothly until one of the
missionaries sat down at a table to help a 6-year-old boy named Misha. He
had finished his manger. When the missionary looked at the little boy’s
manger, she was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger.
Quickly, she called for the translator to ask Misha why there were two babies
in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this
completed manger scene, Misha began to repeat the story very seriously.
For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related
the happenings accurately until he came to the part where Mary put the Baby
Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib. He made up his own
ending. He said, “And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus
looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him, ‘I have no
mamma and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. Then Jesus
told me that I could stay with Him. But I told him I couldn’t, because I
didn’t have a gift to give Him like the shepherds and the magi did. But I
wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I
could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept Him warm, that would be a
good gift. So I asked Jesus, “If I keep You warm, will that be a good
enough gift?” And Jesus told me, ‘If you keep Me warm, that will be
the best gift anybody ever gave Me.’ So I got into the manger and then
Jesus looked at me and He told me I could stay with Him – for always.”
As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that
splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head
dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The
little orphan had found Someone Who would never abandon nor abuse him, Someone
who would stay with him – FOR ALWAYS. — Today we celebrate the great
feast of Jesus the Emmanuel – “God with Us. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
17) A Christmas Parable written by
Louis Cassels: Once upon a time there was a man who looked
upon Christmas as a lot of humbug. He wasn’t a Scrooge. He was a kind and
decent person, generous to his family, upright in all his dealings with other
men. But he didn’t believe all that stuff about Incarnation which Churches
proclaim at Christmas. And he was too honest to pretend that he did. “I am
truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, who was a faithful churchgoer.
“But I simply cannot understand this claim that God becomes man. It doesn’t
make any sense to me.” On Christmas Eve his wife and children went to Church
for the midnight service. He declined to accompany them. “I’d feel like a
hypocrite,” he explained. “I’d rather stay at home. But I’ll wait up for you.”
Shortly after his family drove away in the car, snow began
to fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and
heavier. “If we must have Christmas,” he thought, “it’s nice to have a white
one.” He went back to his chair by the fireside and began to read his
newspaper. A few minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. It was
quickly followed by another, then another. He thought that someone must be
throwing snowballs at his living room window. When he went to the front door to
investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the storm. They had
been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter had tried to fly
through his window. “I can’t let these poor creatures lie there and freeze,” he
thought. “But how can I help them?” Then he remembered the barn where the
children’s pony was stabled. It would provide a warm shelter.
He put on his coat and galoshes and tramped through the
deepening snow to the barn. He opened the door wide and turned on a light. But
the birds didn’t come in. “Food will lure them in,” he thought. So, he hurried
back to the house for breadcrumbs, which he sprinkled on the snow to make a
trail into the barn. To his dismay, the birds ignored the breadcrumbs and
continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the
barn by walking around and waving his arms. They scattered in every direction –
except into the warm lighted barn. “They find me a strange and terrifying
creature,” he said to himself, “and I can’t seem to think of any way to let
them know they can trust me. If only I could be a bird myself for a few
minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety. . . .” Just at that moment the
church bells began to ring. He stood silent for a while, listening to the bells
pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. Then he sank to his knees in the snow.
“Now I do understand,” he whispered. “Now I see why You had to do it.”
(Quoted by Fr. Tommy Lane) Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
18) Did you see the queen? Remember
that nursery rhyme?
“Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?”
“I’ve been to London to look at the queen.”
“Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you there?”
“I frightened a little mouse, under her chair.”
The pussy cat went to see the queen, but it saw only a
mouse. — We have come to Christmas to see Jesus coming to our lives as our Lord
and personal Savior. But do we see only the lights, the statues in the manger
scene and the poinsettias around the altar? We have come to experience the
Light of the world shine on us. But do we see only the darkness of our lives
and that of the world? God has communicated His love for us and His desire to
be with us through the Babe in the manger. Do we get the Message? Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
19) Christmas Reconciliation. A
young woman drove a rented car slowly up a snow-covered mountain road on a cold
Christmas Eve. She was going to see her father, whom she had not seen in
twelve years. She had been sixteen when her father and mother divorced
after his affair with a woman at work. Neither she nor her mother had
ever been able to forgive him.
The affair had not lasted, and her father had soon given up
his corporate job in an eastern city and moved to Colorado — “to rest my weary
soul in the solitude of the mountains” was what he had written in the first
letter he sent after he left home. He had taken a job with the National
Park Service for the summer and hoped he might find something at a ski resort
in the winter. That was all she knew about his life for all of those
years. Letters had come regularly from the same address in a town called
Ward, and she had carefully saved each one, unopened, in a cookie tin on the
back shelf of the large walk-in closet in the bedroom of her townhouse. She had
done well for herself, ironically, in the same company that had once employed
her father.
The last line of that one letter she had read flashed into
her mind, as it had so many times before, as she saw the road sign for Ward
with an arrow pointing to the right. “I hope you will be able to forgive
me some day, Gracie. I love you.” Could she forgive him? Was that
why she had come? Even after the long flight and the equally long drive
from the airport on unfamiliar mountain roads, she still didn’t know.
Grace and her mother had always spent Christmases together,
vacationing in Florida or the Caribbean. It was a way of distracting
themselves from what they had lost. Now that her mother was remarried,
there was no place to go. They had invited her for Christmas, her mother
and Ted, but she hadn’t wanted to intrude on their first holiday
together. So, here she was on the road to Ward.
Grace could see the lights of the little town shimmering
below her, shiny and yellow against the snow, like the gold that had once been
mined from the mountain. She turned off the main highway and shifted into
low gear. The road down to the village was steep and narrow and
snow-covered. Sand had been spread on the curves, but she still had to go
slowly. She wondered in which of the thirty or forty houses and old
miner’s shacks she would find her father. She pulled up in front of the
general store. The porch light was on and the door was open. A
young woman about her own age, dressed in bib overalls with braided hair hanging
down to her waist, was crocheting behind the counter near a small wood-burning
stove. Candy bars, cigarettes, and several brands of cough medicine lined
the shelves behind her. The woman smiled at Grace and said, “Good
evening. What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for my father,” Grace said. The plaintive
tone of her own voice surprised her. She told the woman her father’s name
and immediately saw a knowing look of recognition. “Old Jim. He
comes in here all the time. You must be Grace. He told me about
you.” It seemed strange to hear her father called old. Grace
remembered him as middle-aged. Of course, he would be older now, in his late
sixties. It pleased Grace to know he had spoken of her.
“Almost everybody is up at the Church,” the woman
said. “I saw your dad go up about a half-hour ago. A retired preacher
comes up from Nederbet every Christmas Eve. It’s about the only time they
have services here. You can leave your car out in front. It’s
easier to walk from here.” Grace slowly made her way over the footbridge
spanning the ice-covered stream that wound through the center of the
town. She could see the small clapboard Church about 200 yards up the
mountain. On top of the steeple there were green, blue, and red Christmas
lights flashing in the form of a star. They appeared to be attached to
the cross. Her hands trembled as she opened the door of the Church.
Would her father be glad to see her after all these years? Would he
recognize her?
She spotted him, sitting by himself in one of the back
pews. “Old Jim.” The woman at the store was right. His hair
was thin and completely gray. He was much heavier now. He looked tired,
and, the thought pained her, very much alone. The congregation stood up to sing
“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.” The words of the familiar carol rang in
her ears as she slipped into the pew beside her father. “Glory to the
newborn King, Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” She
squeezed her father’s hand and a smile came over his face in the same instant
he turned to see her. “Grace,” he said, “I’m so glad to see you.”
“Daddy,” was all she was able to say. When the pastor gave
the invitation to come forward for receiving Jesus in the Christmas Holy
Communion, Grace and her father walked up the aisle hand in hand. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
20) “God has revealed Himself in his Son.” Theologian
Karl Barth stood before students and faculty at Princeton in 1963 during his
Princeton Lectures. A student asked: “Sir, don’t you think that God has
revealed himself in other religions and not only Christianity?” Barth stunned
many who were present when he thundered, “No, God has not revealed himself in
any religion, including Christianity. He has revealed himself in his
Son.” Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
21) Christmas trees are a big
business (as you can imagine) in this country. Thirty-six million Christmas
trees are produced in this country every year and more than one million acres
of land have been planted in Christmas trees. Over 100,000 people work full
time in the Christmas tree industry. More than 1 million acres of land in this
country are dedicated just to planting Christmas trees. Roughly 21% of United
States households will have a real tree in their home this year versus 48% that
will have a fake tree. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
22) Shuttle service to Heaven: The
brilliant writer, C. S. Lewis, wrote a thought-provoking book called The
Great Divorce. It is not about the divorce that occurs between husband and
wife. It is about the divorce that occurs between our souls and God. In this
book, C. S. Lewis gives us a picture of Hell as a big city, with all its
pressures and problems. In this big city, the weather is always cold and wet
with a heavy rain. The light is always grey and murky. The people in this city
of Hell become more and more aware of the great divorce that has taken place
between their soul and God, and they sink deeper and deeper into their dismal
surroundings. Except … there is a way out! There is a way out of this terrible
condition! God has provided a shuttle-bus service from Hell to Heaven: regular
bus service. All you need to do is get on the bus and let the power of God
carry you into the light. The incredible thing about the story is that very few
people get on board the buses, even though they are arriving and departing all
the time. The people find all kinds of excuses for putting the journey off to
some vague future time — and they miss the opportunity to be carried by the
power of God from death to new life; from the misery of being estranged from
God to the joy of being in union with God. — Though we may stand in the
darkness of the “great divorce,” the Christmas Promise of God is that He will
carry us into the light if only we are willing to get on the bus. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
23) Jesus sells: One never tires of
Jesus as a subject. The cover stories of Time, Newsweek,
and US News & World Report regularly mark His nativity.
One reason for featuring Him so often is that their circulation invariably
increases. Born twenty centuries ago, Jesus still sells. Mel Gibson broke all
records with his DVD version of The Passion of the Christ. He sold
nine million copies in three weeks at $22 a clip. The first book published by
Pope Benedict XVI is called Jesus of Nazareth. It quickly found a
home on the Best Seller list of The New York Times. Artists at
their easels struggle to paint His portrait again. Have you seen Andy Warhol’s
Nativity? Composers struggle to salute Him with a fresh musical score. — Will
it ever be otherwise? I believe not. Tell others of Jesus. But first, allow Him
to be born in you. He can’t be born again, but we can. (Fr. James
Gilhooley). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
24) “But I did show up”: A story is told
of an old woman who lived all alone. Each year as Christmas drew near, she
would sigh and lament her loneliness, wishing that some people would visit her.
Since nobody would visit her, she decided to pray to the Baby Jesus and His
mother requesting that they pay her a visit. Finally, the baby Jesus appeared
to her in a dream and told her that her prayer had been heard and that the Holy
Family would visit her on Christmas Day. Oh, how excited she was! She began
cleaning and polishing everything in her house squeaky clean in preparation for
the Divine visitor. She cooked her best dish and baked her best cake in
readiness for the visit of Jesus and his mother. Who knows, maybe if she
pleased them well enough, they might decide to stay on and live with her!
When Christmas Day finally arrived, her house was squeaky
clean. Everything was in place to give her sacred guests a befitting welcome.
She sat by the door and read a book, just to make sure the visitors would not
have to ring the doorbell twice before she would open the door and let them in.
It was a cold and rainy day. At about noon she spotted a gypsy couple in the
rain making their way to her house. The man was dirty and disheveled. The
thinly clad woman was nursing a baby who was crying in the rain. “Why can’t
these gypsies just get a decent job,” she said to herself. Then she screamed at
them, “Turn back, turn back immediately. Come another day if you like. Today, I
am expecting very important visitors.” The gypsy family turned back and left.
The woman continued to wait. She waited all day and no divine visitors showed
up. At sunset she fell asleep on the chair, and there in her dream was Jesus.
“Jesus,” she screamed, “how could you disappoint me? You said You were coming
to visit me for Christmas, and I waited all day, and You never showed up.” “But
I did show up,” replied Jesus. “I came with My father and mother in the rain,
and you turned us away.” Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
25) “You’re a good man.” In Alan
Paton’s beautiful novel, Cry the Beloved Country, there is a young
man who was born late in his parents’ lives. He left his home in the hill
country and went down to the city. He never wrote or sent back news. Finally,
his elderly father decided to go to the city to find his boy. Because he hadn’t
spent much time in the city, the father had a hard time of it there. He was
bewildered and confused, and he didn’t know where to begin. Then he was
befriended by a city minister who heard his story and resolved to help him. The
old man moved in with the minister who went out of his way, spending time
trying to help the father pick up clues, to get on the trail of his son. And
when they seemed to be making progress, the old man, with tears in his eyes,
was trying to thank the minister for all he had done. He couldn’t quite find
the words and said simply, “You’re a good man.” The minister replied, “I’m not
a good man. I am a sinful and a selfish man. But Jesus Christ has laid His
hands on me, that’s all.”– A good man is hard to find. But God sent one —
one good Man — to show us the answer to the supreme riddle of life. One good
Man who will never fail us. For, as St. Paul has written, “Love never fails” (I
Cor. 13:8). (Voicings.com). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
26) Your God Is Too Small. JB
Phillips authored a book entitled Your God Is Too Small. One of the
great reasons for Advent is to celebrate the birth of Jesus and explore the
BIGNESS of our GREAT God. The irony of Christmas is this: the bigness of God can
be seen in a tiny Baby. According to Paul in Colossians 1:15-23 this tiny Baby
is the dynamic, omniscient, omnipotent Creator of the universe! Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
27) He jumped into the hole: A
student asked a Christian professor how Confucius and Buddha would differ from
Christ. He responded with a parable. A woman fell into a deep hole. Try as she
might, she could not climb out. Confucius looked in. He told her, “Poor woman,
if you had paid attention to me, you would not have fallen in there in the
first place.” Then he disappeared. Buddha approached. He too spotted the woman.
He said to himself, “If she can just manage to get out of that hole, I can give
her genuine aid.” He continued his journey. Along came Jesus. He spotted the
woman. He was moved with pity. He jumped into the hole immediately to assist
her out. — This story illustrates the Incarnation. We gather here to celebrate
the concern of God for each of us. His willingness to parachute into
enemy-occupied territory in human form for our sakes is illustrated by the
birth of His Son today. (CS Lewis). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
28) Ancient Christmas reading from the Roman Martyrology: Pope
Gregory XIII in 1584 brought together the Roman Martyrology. “The customary
reading for Christmas from the Roman Martyrology, often proclaimed prior to the
celebration of Christmas Mass at Midnight: In the year 5199 since the
creation of the world, when God made Heaven and earth; in the year 2759 since
the flood; in the year 2015 since Abraham’s birth; in the year 1510 since the
exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt under the guidance of Moses; in the
year 1032 since David was anointed king; in the 65th week of years according to
Daniel’s prophecy; in the 194th Olympiad; in the year 732 after the building of
Rome; in the 42nd year of the reign of Octavian Augustus, when there was peace
in the whole world; in the 6th era of the world’s history; Jesus Christ,
eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desired to sanctify the world by His
gracious coming. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and now
after nine months (all kneel) He is born at Bethlehem in the tribe of Judah as
Man from the Virgin Mary. THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IN THE FLESH. (Fr.
Cusick). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
29) The face of God: I heard the
story once of a great Cherokee wood carver. He took a log and sat it on a stump
outside his back door and sat in front of that log sometimes for hours just
staring at it. Finally, he would pick up his carving tools and start carving
the most beautiful of things out of the wood. He was known for his intricate
details in feathers of eagles, or the look of sadness in the eyes of the faces
he carved. A tourist once asked him how he decided what to carve, and the young
man said that he looked for the picture that is already in the wood, then just
took the excess wood away, leaving the beautiful finished image. He said people
would continually ask him how he came up with the ideas as to what he was going
to carve. — People are curious about everything. For hundreds of centuries,
people wanted to know what God looked like, too. Many thought He might have the
face of a demanding judge or strict disciplinarian. It seems we always put the
face on God that we fear the most. On a Christmas Eve, some 2,000 years ago,
God took off His mask and showed the world what He looked like. He let us see
Him how He really looks. We have all heard what we call “the Christmas Story”,
and we all feel very comfortable with Jesus in a manger, don’t we? (Rev. Diane
Ball). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
30) But a young Jewish woman cradled the
biggest news of all: Take the year 1809. The international scene
was tumultuous. Napoleon was sweeping through Austria; blood was flowing
freely. Nobody then cared about babies. But the world was overlooking some
terribly significant births. For example, William Gladstone was born that year.
He was destined to become one of England’s finest statesman. That same year,
Alfred Tennyson was born to an obscure minister and his wife. The child would
one day affect the literary world in a marked manner. On the American
continent, Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And not
far away in Boston, Edgar Allan Poe began his eventful, albeit tragic, life. It
was also in that same year that a physician named Darwin and his wife named
their child Charles Robert. And that same year produced the cries of a newborn
infant in a rugged log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. The baby’s name?
Abraham Lincoln. If there had been news broadcasts at that time, I’m certain
these words would have been heard: “The destiny of the world is being shaped on
an Austrian battlefield today.” But history was actually being shaped in the
cradles of England and America. — Similarly, everyone thought taxation was the
big news–when Jesus was born. But a young Jewish woman cradled the biggest news
of all: the birth of the Savior. Adapted from Charles Swindoll. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
31) You left your palace and your glory to visit
me: Long ago, there ruled in Persia a wise and good king. He
loved his people. He wanted to know how they lived. He wanted to know about
their hardships. Often, he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar
and went to the homes of the poor. No one whom he visited thought that he was
their ruler. One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate
the coarse food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful, kind words to him. Then he
left. Later he visited the poor man again and disclosed his identity by saying,
“I am your king!” The king thought the man would surely ask for some gift or
favor, but he didn’t. Instead he said, “You left your palace and your glory to
visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the course food I ate. You brought
gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have
given yourself!” — The King of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave himself to
you and me. The Bible calls Him, “the unspeakable gift!” Source Unknown. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
32) Christ is born anew within. On
the wall of the museum of the concentration camp at Dachau is a large and moving
photograph of a mother and her little girl standing in line leading to a gas
chamber. The child, who is walking in front of her mother, does not know where
she is going. The mother, who walks behind, does know, but is helpless to stop
the tragedy. In her helplessness she performs the only act of love left to her.
She places her hands over the child’s eyes so she will at least not see the
horror to come. –When people come into the museum they do not whisk by this
photo hurriedly. They pause. They almost feel the pain. And deep inside I think
that they are all saying: “O God, don’t let that be all that there is.” — God’
hears those prayers, and it is in just such situations of hopelessness and
helplessness that His almighty power is born. It is there that God leaves His
Treasure, in Mary and in all of us, as Christ is born anew within. (Sermon
Illustrations, 1999). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
33) Jesus pitched his tent among us: The
custom of placing lighted candles in the windows at Christmas was brought
to America by the Irish. When religion was suppressed throughout Ireland during
the English persecution, the people had no Churches. Priests hid in the forests
and caves and secretly visited the farms and homes to say Mass there during the
night. It was the dearest wish of every Irish family that at least once in
their lifetime a priest would arrive at Christmas to celebrate Mass. For this
grace they hoped and prayed all through the year. When Christmas came, they
left their doors unlocked and placed burning candles in the windows so that any
priest who happened to be in the vicinity could be welcomed and guided to their
home through the dark night. Silently the priest would enter through the
unlatched door and be received by the devout inhabitants with fervent prayers
of gratitude and tears of happiness that their home was to become a church for
Christmas. To justify this practice in the eyes of the English soldiers, the
Irish people explained that they burned the candles and kept the doors unlocked
so that Mary and Joseph, looking for a place to stay, would find their way to
their home and be welcomed with open hearts. — The candles in the windows
have always remained a cherished practice of the Irish, although many of them
have long since forgotten the earlier meaning.
(William Barker in Tarbell’s Teacher’s Guide; quoted by Fr.
Botelho) Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
34) A Legend from Russia: “A Legend
from Russia” is a poem by Phyllis McGinley about Christmas. The poem begins as
the old grandmother, Babushka, is about to retire for the evening: “When out of
the winter’s rush and roar, /came shepherds knocking upon her door. /They tell
her of a royal child a virgin just bore/ and beg the grandmother to come and
adore.” Babushka is good-hearted, but she likes her comfort, and so her
reaction is to go later: “Tomorrow,” she mutters. “Wait until then.”/ But the
shepherds come back and knock again. /This time they beg only a blanket “with
comforting gifts, meat or bread,”/ and we will carry it in your stead.”/ Again
Babushka answers, “Tomorrow.” And when tomorrow comes, she’s as good as her
word. She packs a basket of food and gifts: “A shawl for the lady, soft as
June, /For the Child in the crib a silver spoon,” Rattles and toys and an ivory
game. / but the stable was empty when she came.” (Anonymous. Quoted
by Fr. Botelho) Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
35) Every one of us is going to have a Baby this
Christmas! During a pastoral call, a three-year-old boy climbed in
the lap of a pastor and whispered confidentially, “I know a secret!” The pastor
asked, “Will you tell me your secret?” “Yes,” the little fellow giggled
delightedly, “but you mustn’t tell my mamma.” When the pastor promised not to
tell, the boy continued, “My mamma’s going to the hospital to have a baby. But
don’t tell her. Me and Daddy want her to be surprised!” — Would you be surprised
if someone told you that you were going to have a baby? Women over 50 would
say, “Who do you think you are kidding?” When an angel came to the Virgin Mary,
it was a surprise when he told her that she was to have a baby. The fact is
that regardless of sex or age, every one of us is going to have a Baby this
Christmas! (Fr. Tony Kadavil) (Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
36) Christmas gift of the first ride for Baby
Jesus: Once, the people of a very poor parish set their hearts on
acquiring an expensive set of figures for their Christmas crib. They worked
hard and managed to get a set of rare porcelain for their crib. The Church was
left open on Christmas day so that the people could visit the crib. In the
evening when the parish priest went to lock up, to his consternation he found
the baby Jesus was missing. As he stood there, he spotted a little girl with a
pram entering the Church. She made straight for the crib, took the baby Jesus
out of the pram and put him lovingly in the crib. As she was on her way out the
priest stopped her and asked her what she was doing with the Baby
Jesus. She told him that before Christmas she had prayed to baby
Jesus for a pram. She had promised Him that if she got the prom, he would have
the first ride in it. She had got her pram so she was keeping her side of the
bargain. –Christmas evokes generosity in all people, especially in children.
What is our gift to him? (Flor McCarthy in New Sunday and Holy Day
Liturgies) Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
37) Christmas in the Vietnam jail: In
1967, during the Vietnam War, John McCain was captured by Vietnamese Communist
forces and spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war. He survived
beatings, malnutrition, and torture, and was eventually released. McCain went
on to great success in life and became a U.S. Senator in 1986. In an interview
with television host Larry King, Sen. McCain told about his experiences in the
Vietnamese prison camps. One year, the American prisoners wanted to celebrate
Christmas. McCain secured a Bible and found another prisoner who could sing
some Christmas hymns. The prisoners gathered together to hear Scripture
passages about the birth of Jesus and to sing a few hymns together. As John
McCain looked around, he saw tears of joy and tenderness in the men’s eyes. In
the midst of this hellhole of a prison camp, these men still found hope in the
story of Jesus. [Larry King with Rabbi Irwin Katsof, Powerful Prayers (Los
Angeles: Renaissance Books, 1998), pp. 213-214.] — And why shouldn’t they
find Hope in Christmas? They were celebrating the birth of One Who knew what it
was like to be a prisoner–Who knew what it was to be beaten–Who knew what it
was to die for others. People of every generation of every imaginable condition
have found a soul-mate in the Baby in the Manger. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
38) The heart and soul of Christmas: Each
Christmas season, Charles Krieg, a pastor in New Jersey, takes his mother into
New York City to look at all the decorations and to visit Santa at Macy’s
Department Store. The windows of the department store were unforgettable one
year. The first window had a scroll which read, “The Smell of Christmas is in
the Kitchen.” The scene was an old-fashioned kitchen with a black stove and
food cooking on it; it was so life-like you could almost smell the food. The
second window was titled, “The Taste of Christmas is in the Dining Room.” There
was a long table laden with food. The third window showed a beautiful tree
decorated with ornaments and lights, little toys and popcorn strings. The
scroll read, “The Color of Christmas is in the Tree.” The fourth window scroll
said, “The Sound of Christmas is in the Carols.” This scene was a group of
animated figures singing Christmas carols. Then came the store’s main entrance.
If you ignored the entrance and kept on going, you would have seen one more
window. The scroll in this window proclaimed: “But the Heart and Soul of
Christmas is Here!” In this window was a stable with shepherds, wise men,
Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus lying in a manger. (Source unknown). — Here is
not only the heart and soul of Christmas. Here is the heart and soul of the
universe. God knows what it is to walk where we walk. God offers us new life in
Him by Faith in Jesus Christ. It is the most remarkable story ever told: The
Great Physician who took all humanity’s infirmities upon himself, that by his
stripes, we might be healed. (Fr. Tony Kadavil) Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
39) A metronome at Christmas-rush aerodrome
security check-in: Tom Ervin, Professor of Music at the University
of Arizona was attending a conference for music teachers in New York. While at
the conference he purchased a talking metronome. A metronome is a device for
counting the beats in a song. Before Tom and his son boarded their flight home,
Tom hefted his carry-on bag onto the security-check conveyor belt. The security
guard’s eyes widened as he watched the monitor. He asked Tom what he had in the
bag. Then the guard slowly pulled out of the bag this strange looking device, a
six-by-three-inch black box covered with dials and switches. Other travelers,
sensing trouble, vacated the area. “It’s a metronome,” Tom replied weakly, as
his son cringed in embarrassment. “It’s a talking metronome,” he insisted.
“Look, I’ll show you.” He took the box and flipped a switch, realizing
that he had no idea how it worked. “One . . . two . . . three . . . four,” said
the metronome in perfect time. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As
they gathered their belongings, Tom’s son whispered, “Aren’t you glad it didn’t
go ‘four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . ‘?” (Timothy Anger) —
For the past few weeks we have been counting down the days until Christmas. Now
we could count the hours until the dawning of a New Year. But we need to linger
with Mary and Joseph for a little while longer, because what happened
immediately after Christmas is a stark reminder of the world in which we
live. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
40) “Would you hold my baby for me, please?” Years
ago a young man was riding a bus from Chicago to Miami. He had a stop-over in
Atlanta. While he was sitting at the lunch counter, a woman came out of the
ladies’ rest room carrying a tiny baby. She walked up to this man and asked,
“Would you hold my baby for me, I left my purse in the rest room.” He did. But
as the woman neared the front door of the bus station, she darted out into the
crowded street and was immediately lost in the crowd. This guy couldn’t believe
his eyes. He rushed to the door to call the woman, but couldn’t see her
anywhere. Now what should he do? Put the baby down and run? When calmness
finally settled in, he went to the Traveler’s Aid booth and together with the
local police, they soon found the real mother. You see, the woman who’d left
him holding the baby wasn’t the baby’s real mother. She’d taken the child.
Maybe it was to satisfy some motherly urge to hold a child or something else.
No one really knows. But we do know that this man, breathed a sigh of relief
when the real mother was found. After all, what was he going to do with a baby?
— In a way, each of us, is in the same sort of situation as this young man.
Every Christmas God Himself walks up to us and asks, “Would you hold My Baby for
Me, please?” and then thrusts the Christ Child into our arms. (1) — And we’re
left with the question, “What are we going to do with this Baby?” But an even
deeper question is, just “Who is this Baby?” If we look at Scripture, we find
all kinds of titles and names for this baby we hold in our arms. Emmanuel, “God
with us;” Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,
Christ the King, Jesus. (King Duncan). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
41) Where Does God Fit In? I just
read a story about a schoolteacher in England who supervised her students’
construction of a manger scene in a corner of her classroom. The students were
excited and enthusiastic as they set up the little barn and covered the floor
with real straw and then arranged all the figures of Mary and Joseph and the
shepherds and the Wise Men and all the animals. The students had all the
characters facing the little crib in which the tiny Infant Jesus lay. One
little boy just couldn’t get enough. He was absolutely enthralled. He kept
returning to it, and each time stood there completely engrossed but wearing a
puzzled expression on his face. The teacher noticed him and asked, “Is anything
wrong? Do you have a question? What would you like to know?” With his eyes
still glued to the tiny manger scene, the boy said slowly, “What I’d like to
know is, it’s so small, how does God fit in?” (Rev. King Duncan). == God fits
in because, no matter how hard we try, no matter how hard we work, no matter
what our intentions in life are, somehow, we just get it wrong. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
42) Early American Christmas
Celebrations: Back in the early 1700s, when the United States
were the Colonies, the settlers in Williamsburg, capital of Colonial Virginia,
celebrated Christmas with customs they had brought from England. They had no
Santa Claus (a Dutch tradition), no Christmas trees (a German tradition), no
Nativity crèche (an Italian tradition), and no chimney stockings (an American
tradition). Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg was primarily a holy day,
but the atmosphere was not solemn. Churches and homes were decorated with
greens, while candles burned in all the windows to welcome carolers.
There was a public celebration, too. Musicians played special concerts,
and fireworks were set off and cannon were shot to heighten the general
merriment. Feasting was in order with dishes of roasted fowl and hare, marrow
pudding, ham, oysters, sausage, shellfish, often capped by whole roast boar on
a platter. Some gifts were given then as part of the Christmas celebration, but
not nearly on the present-day scale. (Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
43) “How could I possibly leave them? I was a
part of them.”: In Tom Brokaw’s book The Greatest
Generation, a story is told of Mary Wilson, presently of Dallas, Texas. You
would never know by looking at this modest woman that she was the recipient of
the Silver Star and she bore the nickname “The Angel of Anzio.” You will recall
that when the Allies got bogged down in the boot of Italy during World War II,
they attempted a daring breakout by launching an amphibious landing on the
Anzio Beach. Unfortunately, the Allies got pinned down at the landing site and
came dangerously close to being driven back into the ocean. It looked like
another Dunkirk was in the making. Mary Wilson was the head of the fifty-one
army nurses who went ashore at Anzio. Things got so bad that bullets zipped
through her tent as she assisted the surgeon in surgery. When the situation
continued to deteriorate, arrangements were made to get all of the nurses out.
But Mary Wilson would have none of it. She refused to leave at the gravest
hour. As she related her story years later, she said: “How could I possibly
leave them. I was a part of them.” — Our God is a good God. He does not desert
us in our hour of need. He hears the cries of Israel. He hears the cries of the
Church. He hears the cries of His children. Christmas is about God’s eternal
identification with the human dilemma. (Staff, www.Sermons.com). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
44) The Harvest of Love by Helen Keller: Helen
Keller once wrote: “Christmas is the harvest time of love. Souls are drawn to
other souls. All that we have read and thought and hoped comes to fruition at
this happy time. Our spirits are astir. We feel within us a strong desire to
serve. A strange, subtle force, a new kindness animates man and child. A new
spirit is growing in us. No longer are we content to relieve pain, to sweeten
sorrow, to give the crust of charity. We dare to give friendship, service, the
equal loaf of bread and love.” — May His peace, His power and His purpose
dwell in our hearts. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
45) How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Although
I’ve never read the tale or seen the film, reliable sources tell me that Dr.
Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas is about a jealous
critter, posing as Santa Claus, who steals all the gifts set aside for
children. A little girl spies the theft; the rest the children, undaunted by
their loss, celebrate Christmas anyway. — There are all sorts of Grinches who
steal Christmas. Just think of the moves to call it “Xmas” or of Christmas
stamps without the Madonna and Child. Less overtly, we are treated to phrases
like “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings.” In a way, that’s robbery. After
all, the only reason we are celebrating is a Baby whose birth changed the
course of history. Even some theologians seem to steal Christmas away with
pronouncements that such a miracle could never have happened. If the Roman
emperor insisted on having his birthday celebrated, the little people decided
that they would celebrate the birth of Jesus. If the cultural powers worshiped
the sun god at the year’s end, Christians would exalt the Son of God. The high
and mighty eventually caught on. By the year 500, the church made Christmas a
special feast. Three decades later, the Roman Empire followed suit.
Commemorating the birth of Jesus spread throughout Europe. By the sixteenth
century, however, with its political, national, and ecclesiastical wars,
Christmas was disappearing from many places. The Puritans condemned and
abolished Christmas as something pagan and idolatrous. They even tried to make
observing it a sin. In 1642 services were banned. No decorations were allowed.
Two years later Christmas was declared a time of fast and penance. In 1647 the
British Parliament, that corporate Grinch, totally banned Christmas. Although
Christmas was outlawed in New England until 1850, and people were forced to
work that day while their children were ordered to school, subversive practices
from olden times persisted. Like the young girl and all her friends in the
story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the little ones—the little
people—somehow celebrate Christmas anyway. Perhaps that’s how Christmas
celebrations actually got started in the early fourth century. (John Kavanaugh,
SJ). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
46) The Inner Galaxy: The story is
told of Franklin Delano Roosevelt entertaining guests at the White House. After
a late dinner he invited his guests outside to walk beneath the brilliant
nighttime sky. After a silent, reverent stroll Roosevelt said, “I guess we’ve
been humbled enough now. Let’s go inside.” — And that’s what Christmas
Eve is all about: stargazing toward the Infinite to be humble in our
finiteness. So in response to the angel chorus and the angel announcement, the
simple, rustic, stargazing shepherds said, “Let us go even now into Bethlehem
to see this thing that has happened….” And they went inside the stable and
beheld in the manger the inner galaxy — the interior meaning of the universe.
And what did they experience? (Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
47) Our Greatest Need: If our
greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our
greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our
greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our
greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; but our
greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
48) Next Time It Will Be Different
The First Time Jesus Came
He came veiled in the form of a child.
A star marked His arrival.
Wise men brought Him gifts.
There was no room for Him.
Only a few attended His arrival.
The Next Time Jesus Comes
He will be recognized by all.
Heaven will be lit by His glory.
He will bring rewards for His own.
The world won’t be able to contain His glory.
Every eye shall see Him.
He will come as Sovereign King and Lord of all.
– John F. MacArthur Jr. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
49) St. Augustine’s Reflections: In
this poem written some fifteen centuries ago, Augustine, the great
theologian, tried to capture the mystery of the Incarnation:
Maker of the sun,
He is made under the sun.
In the Father he remains,
From his mother he goes forth.
Creator of heaven and earth,
He was born on earth under heaven.
Unspeakably wise,
He is wisely speechless.
Filling the world,
He lies in a manger.
Ruler of the stars,
He nurses at his mother’s bosom.
He is both great in the nature of God,
And small in the form of a servant. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
50) Some Christmas Reminders
* May the Christmas GIFTS remind us of God’s greatest gift,
His only Son.
* May the Christmas CANDLES remind us of Him who is the “Light of the world.”
* May the Christmas TREES remind us of another tree upon which he died.
* May the Christmas CHEER remind us of Him who said, “Be of good cheer.”
* May the Christmas FEAST remind us of Him who is “the Bread of Life.”
* May the Christmas BELLS remind us of the glorious proclamation of His birth.
* May the Christmas CAROLS remind us of the song the angels sang, “Glory to God
in the Highest!”
* May the Christmas SEASON remind us in every way of Jesus Christ our
King! Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
51) The Christmas Problem: Once
upon a Christmas Eve, a man sat in reflective silence before the
fireplace, pondering the meaning of Christmas. “There is no point to a God
who becomes man,” he mused. “Why would an all-powerful God want to share
even one of His precious moments with the likes of man? And even if He
did, why would He choose to be born in an animal stall? No way! The whole
thing is absurd! I’m sure that if God really wanted to come down to earth,
He would have chosen some other way.” Suddenly, the man was roused from
his reverie by a strange sound outside. He went to the window and
saw a small gaggle of blue geese frantically honking and
aimlessly flopping about in the snow. They seemed dazed and
confused. Apparently they had dropped out in exhaustion from the
flight formations of a larger flock on its way from the Arctic Islands
to the warmer climes of the Gulf of Mexico. Moved to compassion,
the man tried to “shoo” the poor geese into his warm garage, but
the more he “shooed” the more they panicked. “If they only
realized I’m only trying to do what’s best for them,” he thought
to himself. “How can I make them understand my concern for
their well-being?” Then, this thought came to him: “If for just
a minute, I could become one of them, an ordinary goose,
and communicate with them in their own language, they would know
what I am trying to do.” — And suddenly … suddenly, he
remembered Christmas and a smile came over his face. Suddenly, the
Christmas story no longer seemed absurd. Suddenly, he pictured
that ordinary-looking infant, lying in the manger, in that stable
in Bethlehem, and he knew the answer to his Christmas problem:
God had become one of us to tell us that He loves us. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
52) Some Gifts to Give: Some gifts
you can give this Christmas are beyond monetary value: Mend a quarrel,
dismiss suspicion, tell someone, “I love you.” Give
something away–anonymously. Forgive someone who has treated you wrong.
Turn away wrath with a soft answer. Visit someone in a nursing home.
Apologize if you were wrong. Be especially kind to someone with whom you
work. Give as God gave to you in Christ, without obligation, or
announcement, or reservation, or hypocrisy. – Charles Swindoll, Growing
Strong, pp. 400-1. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
53) The Ten Commandments for Christmas: The
following item appeared in a church newsletter and contains some good
advice that will help us keep selfishness in check this Christmas:
- Thou
shalt not leave “Christ” out of Christmas, making it “Xmas.” To some,
“X” is unknown.
- Thou
shalt prepare thy soul for Christmas. Spend not so much on gifts that
thy soul is forgotten.
III. Thou shalt not let Santa Claus replace Christ,
thus robbing the day of its spiritual reality.
- Thou
shalt not burden the shop girl, the mailman, and the merchant with
complaints and demands.
- Thou
shalt give thyself with thy gift. This will increase its value a
hundred-fold, and he who receives it shall treasure it forever.
- Thou
shalt not value gifts received by their cost. Even the least
expensive may signify love, and that is more priceless than silver
and gold.
VII. Thou shalt not neglect the needy. Share thy
blessings with many who will go hungry and cold unless thou art generous.
VIII. Thou shalt not neglect thy church. Its services
highlight the true meaning of the season.
- Thou
shalt be as a little child. Not until thou hast become in spirit as a
little one art thou ready to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
- Thou
shalt give thy heart to Christ. Let Him be at the top of thy
Christmas list. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
54) “One Solitary Life” He was born in an
obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another
village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for
three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held
an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn’t go to college. He
never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of these
things one usually associates with greatness. He had no credentials but
himself. He was only 33 when public opinion turned against him. His friends
ran away. He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery
of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. When He was
dying, His executioners gambled for His clothing, the only property He had
on earth. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the
pity of a friend. — Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today He is the
central figure of the human race, the leader of mankind’s progress. All
the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the
parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together,
have not affected the life of man on earth as much as that One Solitary
Life. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
55) Born for what? In
his depiction of the Nativity, the 16th-century Italian artist Lorenzo Lotto
painted a crucifix into a niche in the background behind the kneeling figure of
St. Joseph. Christ was born for this, Lotto seems to tell us — for the Cross.
In Liz Lemon Swindle’s beautiful Madonna and Child — titled “Be It Unto Me” —
Mary looks out with a certain apprehension into a future beyond the viewer’s
sight, while the Child’s raised eyebrows wrinkle his forehead. One artist’s crucifix
in the niche parallels the other’s Cross on the horizon. For over the peaceful
scene of the Nativity falls the shadow of the Cross. The Christian tradition
has almost universally seen in the harsh circumstances of Christ’s birth “at
midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold” a prefiguring of the brutal
circumstances of his death on the Cross. “Ox and ass before him bow; and he is
in the manger now.” But in the future the wood of the Cross will take the place
of the wood of the manger.– Be it done unto to me, indeed. He willingly
embraces the Cross for our sakes, by His perfect obedience erasing the deadly
effects of our disobedience. “He hath opened heaven’s door, and man is blest
forevermore.” “Christ was born for this,” we sing, “Christ was born for
this.”(Archbishop J. Augustine DiNoia). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
56) Bad timing for delivering Good News: A married woman who decided to go on her own private vacation to Europe. She went from the Midwest to London, and then she was planning to go to Paris, Rome, and Vienna. When she got to London she called her husband back home in the Midwest and said, “How are you doing?” Her husband said, “I’m doing fine but our cat Lucy died.” So his wife starts bawling her eyes out on the phone. But when she regains her composure, she says, “You insensitive brute of a man, why did I ever marry someone like you? You just have no concern about my feelings.” The husband said, “Well, what was I supposed to have said?” The wife thinks for a moment and she says, “Well, when I got to London and I called you as I just did, you could have said, ‘Lucy, our cat is on the roof.’ When I got to Paris you could have said, ‘Lucy, our cat fell down from the roof.’ When I got to Rome you could have said, ‘Lucy’s not doing so well.’ When I got to Vienna you could have said, ‘Lucy died.'” Then the wife said, “By the way, how is the mother?” The husband responded, “She’s on the roof.” That wife thought her husband had bad timing in delivering news. (Rev. Haddon Robinson).L/21
