Isaiah 9:2-7 / Titus 2:11-14 / Luke 2:1-14
Once a year, at this time, the Nativity Scene makes its appearance in church.
And at the beginning of the midnight Mass, the figure of the baby Jesus was reverently carried and put into the central place of the Nativity Scene and rightly so.
After all it’s the celebration of our Saviour’s birth and it reminds us of that first Christmas when God came to earth as a helpless baby.
In that helpless baby, we see the Word of God made flesh and lived among us.
And the Nativity Scene symbolizes all that. Surrounding the baby Jesus are Mary and Joseph, and the shepherds who came to see this wonderful sign, and the poor and humble surroundings of the manger with the donkey and the cow and a couple of sheep. The three wise men would make their appearance later at the Epiphany.
And the Nativity Scene draws our attention. Some Nativity Scenes are quite elaborate with backdrop and lights and life-sized figures.
Some even want to have an updated version: one had a shepherd on the mobile phone calling “Pizza Hut”, and another with a wise man on his laptop checking Google Maps for directions to Bethlehem.
No, no, we are not going to have all that fancy stuff. We are going on traditional. And that means what we have there in front of the sanctuary.
But there was a little issue when we were setting up the Nativity Scene. Because of the size of the Nativity Scene in relation to the sanctuary, we couldn’t have a backdrop of the manger, as some bigger ones might have, complete with the roof and all that.
And because there is no backdrop, then one figure in the Nativity Scene would be difficult for it to find a place.
And that would be the angel. For those with the roof, then the angel would be placed on the roof and holding that sign “Gloria in excelsis Deo”.
So we have a figure of an angel but we don’t really know where to put it since there is no roof to place it on.
Or should we put it there at the Scene? Nobody would really notice it if there is no angel isn’t it?
After all, most would be looking at the baby Jesus, or Mary and Joseph, or the shepherds, or the cow and the donkey or whatever.
But the presence of the angel is significant to the whole Christmas story. It was an angel who announced to Mary that she was chosen to be the Mother of God. It was an angel who appeared to the shepherds and brought them the joyful news of the birth of the Saviour.
Yes, the angels are the messengers of God to announce the fulfillment of the promise of God to send the Saviour. And so for our Nativity Scene we have put the figure of the angel behind the main characters of the Christmas story.
But that does not mean that the messenger is forgotten, nor must the message of Christmas become just a backdrop.
All the characters of the Christmas story heard the message and they played a part in the birth of Jesus.
Mary accepted the will of God; Joseph had to change his plans; the shepherds went to see the sign.
And we have come to celebrate this wonderful story and to hear the message of Christmas again. And having heard the message, we in turn have become the messengers. We are now the “angels” of the Christmas story.
The angels sang at the birth of Jesus: Glory to God in the highest heavens, and peace to men who enjoy His favour.
Yes, we want to be the people who enjoy God’s favour, the people who are blessed by God, the people who despite the challenges and difficulties of life will join the characters in the Nativity Scene and worship the Saviour and be filled with peace because Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
There is this story that just before Christmas God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. So He called one of His angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time. When he returned he told God, yes it is bad on Earth, 90% is bad and 10% is good.
God thought for a moment and said, maybe it is better to send down a second angel to get another opinion. So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time too. When the angel returned he went to God and told Him yes, the Earth was in decline, 90% was bad and 10% was good.
God said this was not good. So He decided to email the 10% that were good and He wanted to send them a message to encourage them, and to bless them and give them something to help them keep going.
Do you know what God said in that email?
No?!? Oh, so you didn't get that email? Oops!
Hmmm, it seems that we are in that 90% category. But that is what Christmas is about – that Jesus came not for the virtuous but for sinners.
And because of Jesus, then we have to change that 90% bad into 90% good. And that is the message of Christmas – that Jesus came to change the bad into good.
Today we hear the message, and it is the message of peace to people of goodwill. As we gather around the altar, Jesus is born again in our hearts to bring us peace and to restore the goodness in us.
And let us also be messengers of this news of great joy. We have heard that 2/3 of Catholics in Singapore don’t come to church.
Let us be that Christmas angel to bring them to come and see the Nativity Scene and its message.
Let us pray that the peace, joy and blessing of Jesus will move their hearts to experience His love.
Jesus came to save sinners. And He also calls sinners to be His messengers.
May Jesus, the Prince of Peace, fill our hearts with His peace and may we go forth to bring to others this news of great joy.
2 Sam 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16 / Luke 1:67-79
With the festivities happening around us and with the year coming to an end, we may want to just have a good time and forget about our worries and anxieties for a while.
With one day just before Christmas, we may yearn for some quiet time for prayer and for reflection on the meaning of Christmas and how we have prepared for it this time around.
Yet it may not be that conducive to make time to do this recalling and reflecting, because of the frenzy of activities and busyness.
Even in Church, people are busy making preparations for the Masses this evening and tomorrow, and also for the Christmas parties along the way.
So as much as we may hope that it is going to be "Silent Night, Holy Night", it may not be really so. In fact, it may well be a noisy and busy night.
Yet we must make time for ourselves to be with the Lord if we really want to experience the silence and the holiness of this eve of Christmas.
We have to make time for ourselves to welcome God as He visits His people and to feel His wonderful gift of love in Jesus.
Just one day before Christmas we are reminded in the gospel what is the meaning of this whole occasion.
God has fulfilled His promise of salvation. He is sending us our long awaited Saviour.
Jesus our Saviour will lead us from darkness of sin and from the shadow of death and guide us into the way of peace.
Let us make time today for prayer and reflection. Let us feel the holy silence of this eve of Christmas.
May we be filled with a joyful peace as we prepare to celebrate Christmas.
Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24 / Luke 1:57-66
The task of choosing a name is an honourable task but nonetheless a difficult task.
Whether it is choosing a name for a person, or for a business, or for a society, there are many factors to be considered.
One of which is that it must sound nice and also meaningful, not just in the predominant language, but also in other dialects and languages.
The name John is a Jewish name (Yehohanan) and it means God-is-gracious.
That name has a great significance for Elizabeth and Zechariah.
Elizabeth was barren and barrenness was seen as a curse from God.
So the conception and birth of John was indeed a gracious blessing from God.
But God's grace did not just give Zechariah and Elizabeth a son.
God's grace will be continued in the life and mission of John.
John's mission was to prepare the people for the time of intense grace from God.
A time of restoration to the dignity as God's people. A time of reconciliation between God and each other.
As Christmas draws near, let us prepare ourselves to receive this moment of intense grace from God, so that we can be a grace-filled and a graceful people.
1 Sam 1:24-28 / Luke 1:46-56
What we heard in the gospel is the prayer of hymn of Mary, which is also commonly called the "Magnificat".
Whenever we hear it or whenever we pray it, have we ever reflected about it and what are our feelings about it?
Certainly it was a prayer of exaltation and magnifying the Lord, and also a prayer to praise the mighty works of the Lord.
But would we say that prayer with conviction and mean what we say?
Of course we might say that Mary's prayer is so lofty and we are so unworthy to say it. And we might also say that Mary can say it but not us.
But Mary can say such a prayer because she had surrendered her all to the Lord and hence being filled with the love of God and from the bounty of her heart, she prays such a prayer.
As in the 1st reading, Hannah had surrendered her all to the Lord in prayer and when she was given a child, she also surrendered her child Samuel to the Lord, or made over to the Lord.
May we too like Mary surrender our whole life to the Lord so that we can truly praise and magnify the Lord with all our heart.
And like Hannah who had Samuel made over to the Lord, may we also give ourselves totally to the service of the Lord.
Songs 2:8-14 or Zephaniah 3:14-18 / Luke 1:39-45
For those of us who had grown plants from seeds, we would know how fragile the beginning of life can be.
The first few days are critical for the germination and the growth of the seedling. Too much sunlight or too much water will harm it, and adverse elements of nature can cause dire consequences for it.
As much as the seedling is prone to the elements of nature, yet the seedling also needs some challenging conditions in order for it to grow in strength to withstand those conditions.
In the gospel, we heard that Mary set out as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country to visit Elizabeth who was with child.
Usually when a woman has just conceived, she would need to take care and rest more as the early stages of pregnancy are rather critical.
And for Mary who has just conceived, instead of resting more to let the baby in her womb develop, she seemed to be taking a risk by travelling to a hill country, and travelling in those times is certainly not a ride in a luxury coach.
But with the new life of Jesus in her, Mary was propelled by the power of the Holy Spirit to go to Elizabeth who would need the help and company of someone who understood her situation.
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we will also be filled with the blessings of the new life that Mary experienced.
Like Mary, we too will be propelled by the Holy Spirit to serve those in need. When we let the Holy Spirit lead us to go out and serve others, our faith will indeed grow and be strengthened.
Isaiah 7:10-14 / Luke 1:26-38
One of the great themes of Advent is this theme of fulfillment.
It is the fulfillment of a prophecy, as well as the fulfillment of a promise.
In the 1st reading, when the prophet Isaiah prophesied to king Ahaz about the sign that God will give, it was for that particular situation in time.
But that prophecy was also a future event that would be fulfilled 700 years later.
The prophecy in both cases was about the salvation that was promised by God. Yet the promise of salvation can also be accepted or rejected.
Mary accepted the promise of salvation even though she had her questions about it. But she believed, hence the promise was also fulfilled in her.
On the other hand, king Ahaz rejected the promise. He relied on other powers to save him in that time of danger.
Christmas is also a time of fulfillment of the promise of salvation.
Jesus came to save us from the punishment due to our sins.
How we welcome Him depends very much on how aware we are of our sins and on our need to be saved by Him.
When we know how awfully our sins are destroying us, then we will see the great love that God has for us by sending His only Son to save us. That is His promise. He will fulfill it again and again. Let us believe and accept it.
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25 / Luke 1:5-25
It is one thing to have visions of the supernatural, and quite another thing to have a spiritual or mystical experience.
Not many can claim to have those visions like that of the seers in the apparitions of Our Lady at places like Guadalupe and Fatima and Lourdes.
In those instances, the message of Our Lady to them was clear and they knew what Our Lady wanted and how to go about conveying the message.
In a way it could be similar to what Menoah's wife and Zechariah had encountered. In both instances, it was the angel of the Lord that appeared to them with a message from the Lord.
It was an encounter with the supernatural that had an effect on their lives. It can also be said to be a life-changing encounter for them.
As for us, we may not have those kind of encounters with the supernatural. But there is also the spiritual side of us that enables us to have spiritual or mystical experiences.
As we look back and reflect on our lives, it can be quite certain that we have had spiritual or even mystical experiences.
It could be a prayer that was answered, a need that was provided for, a danger that was averted, or a prompting that has to be addressed. In all these, we know that it was the Lord who is behind the experience.
As the days draw nearer to Christmas, let us prepare our hearts with prayers and cleanse our souls with penance.
A spiritual or even a mystical experience may be waiting for us, and it could be a life-changing experience.
