20141222 THE OVERARCHING CONTEXT OF CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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1 Samuel 1:24-28
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When Hannah had
weaned the infant Samuel, she took him up with her together with a three-year
old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the
temple of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was with them. They slaughtered the
bull and the child’s mother came to Eli. She said, ‘If you please, my lord. As
you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the
Lord. This is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what I asked him.
Now I make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to
the Lord.’
There she
left him, for the Lord.
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Canticle
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1 Samuel 2:1,4-8
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My heart exults in
the Lord my Saviour.
My heart exults in
the Lord.
I find my
strength in my God;
my mouth laughs at my
enemies
as I
rejoice in your saving help.
My heart exults in
the Lord my Saviour.
The bows of the
mighty are broken,
but the
weak are clothed with strength.
Those with plenty
must labour for bread,
but the
hungry need work no more.
The childless wife
has children now
but the
fruitful wife bears no more.
My heart exults in
the Lord my Saviour.
It is the Lord who
gives life and death,
he brings
men to the grave and back;
it is the Lord who
gives poverty and riches.
He brings
men low and raises them on high.
My heart exults in
the Lord my Saviour.
He lifts up the lowly
from the dust,
from the
dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the
company of princes
to give
him a glorious throne.
For the pillars of
the earth are the Lord’s,
on them
he has set the world.
My heart exults in
the Lord my Saviour.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Root of Jesse,
set up as a sign to
the peoples,
come to save us
and delay no more.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Alleluia, alleluia!
King of the peoples
and cornerstone of
the Church,
come and save man,
whom you made from
the dust of the earth.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 1:46-56 ©
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Mary said:
‘My soul proclaims
the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults
in God my saviour;
because he has looked
upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day
forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has
done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches
from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the
power of his arm,
he has routed the
proud of heart.
He has pulled down
princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has
filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the
help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
– according to the
promise he made to our ancestors –
of his mercy to
Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
Mary stayed with
Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.
THE
OVERARCHING CONTEXT OF CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 SAM 1:24-28; LUKE 1:46-56
At
Christmas, most people are caught up in putting up Christmas lights, Christmas
trees, decorations, gift giving and merry-making. But why do people
celebrate Christmas? For most people, it is because it is that time
of the year when the whole world is in a celebratory mood, especially as we
approach the end of the year. People celebrate and join in the fun
because others are celebrating. People give gifts because it is
customary, and the conventional thing to do at Christmas. Many businesses
also use the end of the year as an occasion to thank their staff. Hence,
there is no real context for the celebration of Christmas by people in the
world. In many places, Christ is even totally taken out of the Christmas
celebration; such as from images and carols that mention Christ and the other
biblical characters. The foundation and reason for their celebration is
therefore weak. Christmas has become a legendary celebration of Santa
Claus and the Christmas tree. Celebrating Christmas without Christ, without
knowing the reason for celebrating His birth, is not a Christmas celebration at
all.
For
this reason, the liturgy invites us to understand the larger context of our
Christmas celebration. Like Mary and Hannah, who saw themselves in
the context of the history of Israel. The wonderful things that happened
to them were not seen simply on a personal level but in the wider context of
their place and roles in salvation history. Consequently, it is important
that we determine the reason for our celebration and the context. The
reason for our celebration can only be one, namely, the birth of Jesus as the
gift of God to us. But this great joy of recognizing Jesus as the
personal gift of God for our salvation requires that we come to understand Him
as such.
Hence,
if we were to celebrate Christmas meaningfully, three attitudes or dispositions
are necessary. Firstly, we must have an attitude of surrender.
Mary and Hannah were people in the history of salvation who had surrendered
their lives to the Lord. Only because they surrendered their weaknesses,
fears and their wills to the Lord, could the Lord do mighty things for
them. Unless we surrender our fears, the Lord cannot come to give us His
strength. Unless we surrender our pride, the Lord cannot come to help us
in our weakness. Unless we surrender our self-sufficiency, the Lord
cannot fill us with good things. Unless we surrender our sins, our
selfishness, anger, resentment, and greed, the Lord cannot give us His
blessings.
Indeed,
the Magnificat sums up such an attitude, for Mary recognized that the
Lord could have had regard for her only because of her lowliness; that God’s
mercy was shown only because of her devotion to the Lord. Indeed, “He has
shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of
their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those
of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has
sent empty away.”
Secondly,
we must have an attitude of praise. This presupposes that we have
first surrendered. Only those who have surrendered their lives to the
Lord and allowed Him to take control of their lives could come to appreciate
the power of God. Indeed, if Mary and Hannah could sing the song of
praise, it was because they had experienced the might and wonder of God working
in their lives. They knew that what happened was not their doing but
solely the work of God, for which they could claim no credit. Indeed,
Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my
Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold,
henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done
great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Truly, praise
flows from the experience of God’s love and mercy. This
explains why those who have surrendered themselves to God in their lives and
experienced His love and grace want to praise Him unceasingly. Their
prayers center more on praise than petitions, because having encountered His
strength and love, they also implicitly recognize that by praising Him, God
will continue to work in their lives and protect them in all ways. It is
this deep trust in the continuing power of God that changes the orientation of
petitions to praise. Conversely, those who hardly praise God, which
includes those whose prayers are reduced to petitionary prayers or even
meditative prayers, have not truly experienced the mighty hand of God working
in their lives yet. For praise rises from hearts that have encountered
the awesomeness of God who always works in ways unimaginable, leaving us so
amazed and humbled at the greatness of His love, mercy and power.
Thirdly,
the attitude of thanksgiving is necessary for the celebration of
Christmas. We are told that Hannah was so grateful to God for taking away
her shame associated with being barren by giving her Samuel, that she in turn
offered and consecrated Samuel to the Lord for His service in the temple.
Whenever we receive gifts from others, it is only natural that we want to give
in return, not because we have to, or to save face because of pride as some
people do, but simply because we want to show our gratitude. For this
reason, the giving of gifts at Christmas makes sense only when we have first
received Jesus as the greatest of all gifts from God. When we understand
why Jesus is such a great blessing from God to us, and when we experience Jesus
dwelling in our hearts, we will become grateful and desire to be gifts to
others. The giving of gifts is but an expression of the joy that could
not be contained in us. Only that kind of giving truly comes from a
grateful heart and therefore it is a gift given unconditionally and with
sincerity. As St Paul wrote, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we
are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died
for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him
who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Cor 5:14f) Without this
experience of the undeserved and overwhelming love of God, the giving of gifts
is reduced to mere exchange, and even an occasion for pride and condescension.
Yes,
let us once again ground ourselves in the celebration of Christmas. We
must understand the purpose of our celebration and the basis of our celebration.
Christmas joy must begin with the joy of encountering Jesus, and the experience
of His peace, love and mercy in our lives because we have emptied ourselves
like Jesus and Mary. Only through such a larger context of celebration will all
the other peripheral activities of Christmas find meaning. Let us not
allow the secular way of celebrating Christmas rob us of Christ’s birth in our
hearts. We must purposefully bring back the religious dimension of
Christmas by spending time in quiet contemplation, like Mary and Hannah, of
such a profound event of the incarnation. We must give a place to Jesus not
just by having a Christmas crib or a Christmas tree, or singing some Catholic
carols, but through the Eucharist and the Word of God, allowing Jesus to come
into our hearts so that we can be filled with a peace and joy that the world
cannot give.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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