Christmas I - The Solemnity of the Nativity

Christmas I – The Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

At Night: Isaiah 9:1-6; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14

Imagine your nativity scene at home.

What is missing?

A strange question you might ask?

Let’s see. Shepherds. Check.

Angel. Check.

Joseph and Mary. Check.

Magi. Check.

Ox, ass, sheep, manger and child! Check. Check. Check. Nothing missing.

 

When Francis of Assisi created the first nativity scene, he did so to scandalize us.

To wake us up!

Wake us up to the reality of God becoming vulnerable even unto death.

Wake us up to our own realities.

 

Are you scandalized by the nativity scene?

We know what scandal is. We’ve experienced it.

The sexual abuse and its coverup in our Church. For a moment, resurface those feelings.

If we are not scandalized, something must be missing.

 

The smell of hay.

The smell of animal sweat.

The smell of manure and urine. …of soiled diapers.

You and I may not live in such conditions but…

how many seniors live in such unclean conditions in some nursing homes?

How many people live in squalor? …in a hoarder’s world?

I’ve entered such places on pastoral visits.

Do any of these situations mark your life? …or lives that linger nearby?

Missing is the anxious, nervous sweat of Joseph. Of every father.

Women have always been aware of the dangers of giving birth, even in the best of situations.

Other Gospels provide them, but here there are no midwives to assist.

Even when surrounded by people, I expect birthing is a solitary world every woman enters.

Pain. Body out of control. Contracting and releasing. Pushing. Screaming into a parallel universe.

Will the child survive? Will the mother?

 

Missing is the anxiety and exhaustion on the faces of Joseph and Mary.

Even relief is missing that both child and mother survived. 

 

How many of our families are marked by betrayals, adultery and divorce?

Joseph experienced our deep hurt.

How many of you feel anxious, even being in church tonight, because of your marital situation?

How many of us brush untidy family situations under the carpet by simply not talking about them?

This was Joseph’s plan.

Betrayal. Divorce. Silence. A messy affair.

 

Consider WHO is missing from the nativity scene.

 

Herod. Why is he not portrayed in the scene?

Herod is still alive. So is Pharaoh of Egypt.

Why do children suffer the most at the hands of men in power?

The Gaza Strip. Auschwitz-Birkenau. Yemen. El Mozote, El Salvador. Nigeria.

The collective experience of our own mass school shootings.

 

Children are systematically murdered. Starved. Deprived of medical care.

 

What is the experience of a childhood marked by hunger, war and forced migration?

Never forget the boys of Bethlehem. If we do, it is easy to forget all suffering children.

 

Herod and Pharoah? Don’t worry. We’ve never portrayed them.

But they are hidden in the background.

I’m second generation removed from my grandparents.

I have no idea why they came to this country 100 years ago. Never thought of asking.

How can I resonate with the fear of Joseph who is told to take Mary and the child to Egypt?

Now! Don’t linger. Grab whatever you can. Go!

Threats. Lives endangered. Leave everything. Family. Home. Neighbors.

 

Do you know the reasons your ancestors came here?

Can any of us resonate with the experience of Joseph;

with people who today are moving across our hemisphere and world?

 

The inn keeper was not hospitable. Excuses.

Can you recall times you were not made to feel welcome?

 

Joseph and Mary were not welcomed in Bethlehem; were they welcomed in Egypt?

Or were they reminded they were the outsider?

How do we respond to the stranger, the immigrant, someone asking for assistance?

 

Joseph may have skills.

But in Egypt he will have no job. He is a foreigner.

Will anyone hire him?

What about housing?

Consider the loneliness arising from family separation?

No internet. No facetime. No WhatsApp. No iPhone.

Have you ever had to move?

Not for a better job or for health reasons but because of fear?

I’ve moved nine times in forty-one years. The reason? Bishops.

 

Our nativity scenes are quite domesticated, are they not?

Why don’t we remember and tell the whole story of Jesus’ birth?

Governments. Peoples. Tribes. Families are no different.

We all sanitize our stories so we don’t have to deal with the past, the pain or our present realities.

Christianity has done the same thing.

When our sacred images, liturgies, devotions, and storytelling are incomplete;

when they do not resonate within our present personal and shared lives,

we may feel good but then what purpose are these stories to us?

 

Following Jesus is not about feeling good.

It’s about experiencing life and death in their fullness.

There is much that is missing in our nativity scenes.

Here’s where Joseph can help us.

 

Joseph.

He says not a word.

He acts.

In the midst of betrayals and fears, dashed hopes, hardships and dreams,

Joseph welcomes Mary into his home. No questions asked.

Joseph names the child. Accepts Jesus as his own son.

Joseph protects them.

Joseph deeply cares for them.

It is the story of salvation.

 

God speaks a Word.

The Christ. Jesus.

Jesus acts.

In the midst of fear and betrayals, dashed hopes, dreams and miracles,

Jesus welcomes us. No questions asked.

Jesus knows us by name. Accepts us as his sisters and brothers.

Jesus protects us.

Jesus deeply cares for us. Unto death.

It is the story of salvation in its fullness.

 

Nothing is missing.