How we become a part of - rather than just hear - the Christmas Story

Christmas! (year B)

A few months ago I agreed - against my better judgment - to participate in a musical. I just had a small singing part in the performance. The organizers originally wanted me dance as well but I drew the line and said no, which you’d have to agree, if you have seen my lack of coordination and natural rhythm, was a happy decision for everyone involved. Afterwards a friend of mine who had seen the performance sent me an email. She explained that it was good that I participated in the musical because it showed everyone that “you can still shine even if you are not perfect”. My first reaction was, “aww that’s nice”, but after a minute I thought “what do you mean I wasn't perfect!” Participating in the musical was a new experience for me. I was struck how different it was to be a part of the story of the musical rather than just watching the story from the audience. When I have watched a story in the past - whether it be in a movie or play - it had a certain effect on me. It made me think or feel differently. These effects, however, quickly passed. Actually being part of the story was a different experience altogether. It really changed me; I was challenged and had to learn and grow. In some way I became a better person because of entering into the story.

I was reminded of my experience in the musical by a conversation I recently had a with a friend. Though raised Catholic, he no longer attends Mass, even on Christmas. I asked why that was. He explained that he stopped coming to Christmas Mass because he “it’s always the same story that I have heard so many times”. I suggest that, just was the case for the musical, there is an incredible difference between hearing the Christmas story and becoming part of it. Unless we choose to become a part of Jesus’ story, it doesn't really change us.

When we look at a Nativity scene or listen to the Christmas gospel, we find that it is full of people who chose to become a part of the Christmas story and had their lives changed as a result. We see Mary who said yes to God’s plan and became the mother of Jesus. Beside her is Joseph, who courageously welcomed Mary and Jesus into his heart and home and cared for them in the face of great adversity. We see the shepherds who left their flocks to worship the newborn Child. In some days we will see the wise men coming from far away to worship the King and bring Him gifts. All these people chose to play a role in the greatest love story ever told. The story of how God saved us all by becoming a small, poor, vulnerable child because He loves us. Though they had to make sacrifices, we see in the Gospels their lives were filled with joy. Their lives became an adventure upon encountering Jesus.

Another important group of characters are important to mention: the angels. Each Nativity scene normally has an angel in it and we often place an angel on the top of our Christmas trees. This is to remind us of the important role that angels played at every stage in the birth of Jesus. It was an angel who appeared to Mary to announce that she was conceive a Son. The same angel, Gabriel, appeared to Zechariah telling him that his wife would conceive John the Baptist in her old age. Angels announced the birth of Jesus to the lowly shepherds. We continue to echo the song of praise they sang that night each time we sing the Gloria at Mass. Angels were involved in the naming of Jesus. They warned Joseph of Herod’s plot to kill Jesus and instructed the Holy Family to flee to Egypt. Angels told them when they could safely return. The entire story of Jesus’ birth is an explosion of angelic activity.

Angels and all the other characters we find in the Nativity scene become part of the Christmas story when they decided to accept Jesus into their lives. Even when Jesus was a baby, he provoked people to make a choice. Is He God, King and Saviour? If so, will you choose to have a relationship with Him and follow Him? Many people answered and continue to answer “no”. Some, like the innkeepers, simply ignore Jesus. Others, like Herod, actively fight against Him. This drama of choosing for or against Jesus extended to the angels. Though there are no details given in scripture, there are some stories, both recent and old, describing how this came about. J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the Lords of the Rings and the Hobbit, wrote a book called the Silmarillion in which he tells the drama of the angels’ choice with reference to song. Before the material world was created, God (called Eru) presented his song which told the entire story of creation to the newly created angelic beings (called Ainur). Though most of them gladly joined in the song, others broke away from the harmony of the music and created discord. There is an older tradition which gives more details. Before God created the world, He revealed to the angels His plan to create humanity. He explained that they would fall because of Sin. God also told His angels about His plan to send His Son to become a man and save humanity. Most of the angels said yes to God’s plan and a relationship with Jesus. These are the angels who played an active role in the Christmas story as God’s messengers. Some angels, however, could not say yes to God’s plan and to Jesus. They thought that it was below the dignity of God to take on human flesh. They certainly could never worship a man, which they saw as below themselves. These angels who said no to God include Satan and the fallen angels. They actively rebelled against Jesus from the moment of His birth and have tempted humanity to do the same ever since.  

Like the good angels, we need to choose to enter the Christmas story by saying “yes” to a relationship with Jesus. One Christmas I received a gift but instead of opening it, seeing what was inside and enjoying it, I put it on a shelf and forgot about it. Months later I opened the gift only to find that inside were homemade sweets that had gone bad. Pretty stupid of me, right! The greatest gift we receive at Christmas is the chance to have a relationship with Jesus. This is a gift that we have to accept and unwrap. Sometimes, unfortunately, we do with the gift of our faith what I did with the sweets. We look at it from time to time but never really open it and enjoy it. By the time we get around to it, it might be too late. In the end, we are the ones who suffer when we do this. As we saw in the Christmas story, those who say yes to a relationship with Jesus live lives filled with joy. I once read somewhere that “if you want to take your faith and put it on a shelf high out of reach of your daily life, the devil will gladly hold the ladder”.

Today we have once again heard the story of Christmas. Ultimately if we only listen to the story time and time again it becomes boring. Entering into the story makes all the difference. It changes our life and fills us with joy. Let us choose some new way to deepen our relationship with Jesus this Christmas. Perhaps we can choose to pray regularly each day. Maybe we can decide to read a part of the gospel each day. We could also choose to make attending Mass a central part of each Sunday. Finally, you might choose to take part in a new initiative we are starting in the parish. Beginning at the end of January you can choose to participate in a Discovery study. This is a six week faith study done in small groups. When I was a university student and struggling with my faith, I agreed - after much convincing - to participate in this very same study and it helped me greatly. In it, you will discover again the basic gospel message: God’s desire for a relationship with us, our need for a Saviour and the different Jesus make in our life. You will discover in a new way the great difference that having a personal relationship with Jesus makes and the joy that comes from sharing your faith in a small community. Choose some way to become a part of Jesus’ story this Christmas. Let it be the Christmas gift you give yourself.

The power of "yes"

Luke 1: 26 - 38 (4th Sunday of Advent, year b)

Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!

These words, spoken by William Wallace in the movie Braveheart, powerfully express the value we place on our freedom. Freedom, the ability to make our own choices and direct our own life, is something that we cherish, particularly today. We protest against any person or group that would curtail our freedom. We are willing to fight to protect it. Freedom is an incredible gift, given to us by God. Jesus came into the world for this purpose: to save us from sin and death. The story of the Annunciation, which we heard in today’s gospel, is an important lesson about the role that human freedom plays in God’s plan to save the world.

At times we can underestimate the part human liberty plays in God’s work of salvation. Are we passive in God’s work of salvation or are we active participants in it? I once watched news footage of a helicopter rescue mission during a flood. The water had risen so high that both people and animals had taken refuge on the tops of buildings. From the footage, you could tell that there was a large difference between the rescue of an animal and the rescue of a human being. In one scene, the helicopter saved a dog from the top of a building. The dog did not choose whether to be saved or not, the dog was simply rescued. This dog was a passive participant in the rescue. Things were quite different when a person was saved. I was surprised to see that though most people agreed to be airlifted by the helicopter, some people refused to be rescued. These people did not want to be taken away from their homes and possessions, choosing to take their chances with the rising waters. Unlike the dog, the people had to choose whether they were rescued or not. Though they would not have been saved without the helicopter, they played an active role in their salvation.

The story of the Annunciation teaches us that human beings play an active role in God’s work of saving the world. Jesus, like the helicopter in the flood, is necessary for our salvation. Yet, like those people on the roof, we need to participate in the rescue plan. St. Augustine tells us that “God created us without us, but he did not will to save us without us.” Mary cooperated in this work in a unique way. In the 12th century, St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a famous homily on the story of the Annunciation, focusing on the moment after Mary heard the angel Gabriel’s message about God’s plan for her but before she has said “yes”. He portrays heaven and earth as it were holding its breath at this moment of the question addressed to Mary. Will she say yes?

You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us. The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life. Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race. Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, she says, be it done to me according to your word.

The Annunciation teaches us about the power of our “yes” in God’s work of salvation. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, on reflecting on St. Bernard’s homily, drew out this point.

After the error of our first parents, the whole world was shrouded in darkness, under the dominion of death. Now God seeks to enter the world anew. He knocks at Mary’s door. He needs human freedom. The only way he can redeem man, who was created free, is by means of a free “yes” to his will. In creating freedom, he made himself in a certain sense dependent upon man. His power is tied to the unenforceable “yes” of a human being.

Like Mary, we are active participants in God’s work of salvation. Like Mary, our yes to God’s plan of salvation has two powerful results:

1. Our “yes” let’s Jesus into our lives. Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with each of us. This is something He cannot force on us. We let Jesus into our own lives when we say yes to praying each day, reading the Bible and going to Mass faithfully.
2. Our “yes” allows Jesus to enter the lives of others. If Mary had not said yes to the Angel Gabriel, then Jesus would not have entered the world. We allow Jesus to touch the lives of those near us when we say yes to witnessing to him by word and example.

God will never take our freedom from us. He invites us to use our freedom for the incredible purpose of participating in His work of salvation. Here’s a very simply suggestion for how we can exercise the power of our “yes” and help Jesus enter in the life of someone close to you: invite a friend or family member who does not attend Mass to come with you to Mass this Sunday. Don’t pressure or guilt them into it, just invite. Perhaps this invitation is just what they were waiting for.

Questions some Gr. 8's have me asking

Today I had the opportunity to visit with a group of Gr. 8 students from a public school in Vancouver. They came to visit our Church as part of a "Religion Tour". I really enjoyed the opportunity to speak with the students and I was very happy that they came to visit. The experience was a new one for me and I learned a lot. The meeting left me mulling over several questions.

Why did no one laugh at my jokes?
I told some really good ones, I promise. 

Why do Gr. 8 students know so much about the Illuminati?
Really, why? Can anyone help me here?

When did learning about religion get reduced to learning about culture?
The organizer of the tour asked me to give a talk explaining the basics of Christianity so I did my best to talk about Jesus, the Cross, the Resurrection and Redemption. Unfortunately for the students, I wasn't answering the questions they came to learn about. They all had sheets on which they had to answer three questions: 1) what are some symbols of the religion? 2) what is their building like? 3) what are their religious practices? Though important, these questions are secondary in my mind. They have to do more with culture than religion. The students were not asked to write down anything about what we as Christians actually believe. They were not expected to learn about how we view God or the world. All religions try to grapple with some pretty important questions. Why are we here? What does it mean to live a good life? These are questions which I think would be helpful to discuss on a Religion Tour. Ultimately, I felt like I was a guide at a museum. It seemed like I was expected to explain some artifact from the past that people feel is far removed from their daily lives and has little power to challenge the way they look at the world.

Is it a bad thing that most people know the word "Trinity" only in reference to a character in the movie the Matrix?
She has good ninja moves, but still, the real Trinity is better.

When did it become a given for people to assume that science and religion are in opposition?
At the end of the visit, I had a little time so I asked the students some questions. For me it was the best part of the day. I explained that many students in Catholic schools have questions about the relationship between science and religion. I asked them if they thought that science was opposed to religion. In unison, the majority of the students - who had been quiet up till this point - shouted "Yes!" I was not surprised with the answer, but with the enthusiasm of their response. After I asked why they thought science and religion were opposed, a couple brave students explained that the big bang theory proves that God doesn't exist. The students could not explain what the big bang theory actually was, but they were convinced that it proves God doesn't exist. Some also explained that "scientists don't believe in God". All of them, apparently. I didn't have too much time, so I explained a little bit about why Catholics don't see religion as opposed to science, particularly the big bang theory and evolution. I also told them about George Lemaitre, the Catholic priest who was the first person to propose the big bang theory.

George Lemaitre

How can we make sure that religion and society don't become irrelevant to one another?
After the students left, I couldn't help but think that I am out of touch with what the majority of people in Vancouver are thinking about religion and God. I live in a bit of a Catholic bubble. I spend most of my time talking to Catholics about Catholic things. This is something I enjoy doing, but if I want to reach out to those who don't come to Church, I need to get to know them better. Theoretically, priests are supposed to serve those within their parish boundaries, whether they are Catholic or not. On the other side, I couldn't help but think that for many of the students, religion is somewhat irrelevant. I don't think it's a deliberately formed opinion or that there is any animosity, I just think that religion doesn't really play a large role in the lives of many of those students I met today. The fact that society and religion seem to be growing apart is bad news for everyone. On a positive note, almost all the students heard of Pope Francis. By his words and actions people seem to be getting more interested in Christianity again. His approach is really working.

Thoughts?