Get past the words to the Word

Christmas Day 2015

The gospel reading may come as an anti-climax to many well-intentioned and excited Catholics who had to battle fatigue from last night’s revelry, expecting to hear the all too familiar story of the birth of Jesus in a humble stable. But instead we are treated to a profoundly theological treatise. Some may even add with a sigh of exasperation, “Oh No! If the up-in-the-air incomprehensible homilies are bad enough, not the gospel, not that too!” But every Christmas morning, the Church chooses to have the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel read. To those who have gotten over your initial disappointment and shock, and are now ready to give a second change to the reading, pay attention to the beautiful words of this passage. Or better still, get past the words to the Word! Nowhere are the most profound mysteries of the Christian faith expressed more deeply, and yet more simply, than here in this passage. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity; the doctrine of the person of Christ, his dual nature; the work of Christ, by which we are saved; all of these are caught and captured in this passage, and yet never to be fully plumbed in their depth.

And so this passage is perfect for Christmas. And this is definitely a different kind of Christmas story – no angels, no shepherds, no manger, but – the Word. And this Word – Jesus Christ – is spoken into the world and our existence; into the holy night, and into all of our days. For here we find the astonishing, amazing, wonderful truth of what really happened on this day: The eternal God, the Divine Word who created all things, came in the flesh to be our Saviour. There is nothing more profound and mysterious than this.

But how different is this Word from all the words? Is Christ just one word that we hear, day in, day out? We are surrounded by the spoken word, the sung word, the written word – newspapers, soap operas, reality TV, commercials, emails, text messages, blogs, tweets and even lengthy sermons. These days, everyone seems to have something to say, and if only for the sake of saying it, no matter how irrelevant or inconsequential. We are already swamped with words, and our brains have to work so hard to filter out the words that are really important. So many words, so many utterances, so many promises, each promising the world but delivering nothing. Would another word make any difference or would it be redundant?

It is no wonder that one of our favourite carols that would have been sung last night I “Silent Night.” Many probably would say, “Silent Night”? Why? Because usually life is not peaceful and silent, because the idea of silence and heavenly peace sound so wonderful in a world where we are bombarded by noises and words each and every day. In that holy silence, one actually starts to pay attention to what’s really important.  One actually starts to listen to God.

For God has spoken, and this words echoes through time and space.

But there is nothing redundant about the Word we hear today. To the question, ‘what difference does one more word make in my life?’ our answer would be unreservedly, ‘Everything!’ Right from the very first verse, the reader or listener is stunned by the profundity of the words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here we have the incalculable mystery of the Trinity expressed in one simple sentence.

“In the beginning.” Here John is deliberately recalling the opening verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the very beginning of creation, God SPEAKS, and things and all living beings come into existence.  Clearly, St John the Evangelist wishes to impress on us this important point - God created all these things by his powerful Word. But the mystery that John is about to reveal is that this Word is not just an impersonal force but a distinct Person of the Godhead: the Word was not only with God at the very beginning but the “Word was God.” This statement serves to express two important features of our Christian understanding of the Most Holy Trinity. There is a distinction of persons but there is also a sharing of the one nature of God. To many who have rejected both the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Divine Word, as well as the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity that flows from it, would have to either to get around this single line or simply ignore it altogether.

But the prologue is not just a theological statement of the divine person of the Word and his role in creation, but also speaks what this Word has brought to us humankind. He brings both life and light. Without him, we are dead and in the dark. Dead men walking, wandering around in the darkness of our sin-blinded minds. That’s the state of our world. But Christ’s light and life pierces the darkness and illuminates our way, giving light to our souls.

Now we come to the real mystery of Christmas, to what might qualify as the single most profound sentence ever written, one verse that could fill volumes. Here is the mystery of Christmas, in the greatest words your ears will ever hear: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” “And the Word became flesh.” The Incarnation. Theologians, poets and preachers have marvelled over this mystery

One would have expected the first word to be uttered by God in response to man’s sinfulness and infidelity would be that of judgment. But we are surprised. The Word uttered by God is not a harsh word. But instead, it is a word of Love, not just an idea, but Love enfleshed in the person of Christ, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. No, the word God speaks lies in a manger.  The word God speaks rests in the arms of his mother. It is a Word that finally goes to the cross and embraces that reality which all humans are condemned to – suffering and finally death. It is a word of understanding, of accepting and of elevating our human condition a word of mercy. This word is spoken to us, and it remains with us – when we feel weak or discouraged.  When we feel sad.  When we feel like a failure.  When we don’t love ourselves and can’t forgive ourselves. In such moments, remember the child, the enfleshed Word who created the Heavens and the Earth, now lying in arms of a mortal mother. This is the hiddenness of Christmas, that that little baby, born in a manger, the Son of Mary, is the very Son of God, the Saviour of the world, the Creator of the Universe.

That’s the wonder of the Word, not just any words, but THE Word. If one can already experience how one word can lift us up, how words can bring healing and hope, how words can empower us, stir us up, rouse us, can you imagine the power of this Word? Here, is the first Word that defined all things and brought into being all things. Here also is the last Word, the last Word that would fully complete and perfect the old creation with a new one.  Here is the Word that was not content to remain an idea. Here is the Word that became visible and tangible, so that He could restore and heal our relationship with God. Here is the one Word that saved us! If we have doubted that God remains silent to our pleas, our concerns, and our troubles, know this on this Christmas morning, God has spoken. Jesus Christ is that Word!

谦卑的衣装

年圣诞节子夜弥撒

依照我们天主教的传统，和圣诞节有关联的圣人并不是圣诞老人(圣尼古拉），而是圣芳济亚西西。圣芳济提醒我们有关圣诞节常被人们遗忘的一面，那就是天主的谦卑。大多数的宗教都描述他们的神处在遥远的地方，神隐藏在云彩后面，不在我们的视线内。然而，圣诞故事却不一样，它让我们看到了一个非常不同画面的神。福音故事告诉我们：天主变成了小婴孩。这个婴孩不是诞生在干净的医院里，而是诞生在一个又简陋又肮脏的马槽。祂不仅取了人的形体，而且还处在人最无助和脆弱的状况中。就如许许多多无家可归的人和无固定住所的难民一样，天主选择在这种环境里诞生。

今天，在基督的谦卑内，我们经验到天主的谦卑。祂透过祂自己的诞生，给我们显示谦卑的意思。“谦卑”就是放弃所有不能引领我们到天主前的事物。在这个已经不重视谦卑的新世代，这样的提醒显得特别重要。现在的世界，谦卑被看成是软弱，甚至是愚蠢的标志。难怪许多人都不能接受圣诞节故事的真实意义。许多人都不愿意相信天主竟选择在这样贫寒的环境中诞生。如果给机会他们改写故事，他们一定会在故事里加入各种在今日社会中成功的必要因素，如：财富、权利、著名大学的学位、野心、并和有钱有势的人攀上关系。

今日，谦卑的人往往被人们忽略，他们的地位甚至是微不足道的。他们对我们的生活没有什么影响，所以不值得我们的注意。社会的模范不是谦卑的人，而是那些有野心、傲慢又自私自利的人。在社会上受尊崇的是商人、政客、体坛明星、演员、歌手或艺人，这些人似乎都有个共同点，那就是非常重视自己。

现在且让我们看看圣诞的谦卑。天主子放下祂的尊崇和荣耀，放弃祂的地位，舍弃了天上荣华，为的就是要成为我们的一份子，以便能拯救我们脱离罪恶。基督屈尊就卑，成为一个无助的小婴孩降临人间。不过，基督的谦卑并没有在祂诞生之后或童年时期就结束，而是祂一生都生活在谦卑中。

那么，在这圣诞之夜，我们怎样来到耶稣的跟前? 对于这位创造天地、并恩赐我们一切的天地大君王，我们该当献上什么礼品？答案是：当我们领悟了“谦卑就是放弃一切不能引领我们到天主前的事物，以及所有的世俗野心”后，才会怀着全然谦卑的心来到主耶稣前，我们没有什么可奉献的，只能向祂献上自己。因此，唯有抛开我们的自尊和骄矜，穿上谦卑的衣装，才能在这个圣诞与我们的救主真正相遇。如果我们要使圣诞文化回归本质，就要谦卑。在生活中要有礼让精神，就算无法施予怜悯，我们也要展现慈悲。我们该当谦卑自下，学习马槽里的圣婴、牧场上的牧人以及玛利亚和若瑟所立的表样，因为他们都同意了天主的计划。谦卑的语言是慈悲，而不是报复。

让我们允许被天主改变成为简单朴素，因为天主把自己启示给心灵简朴的人。让我们也特别在这个时刻，为在贫困中、受苦中及那些以移民身份庆祝圣诞节的人祈祷：祈求天主仁慈的皓光照射在他们身上，使到他们和我们都被天主的仁慈感动——那就是被天主选择借着祂儿子诞生在马槽中而带入这世界的仁慈感动。

The Garment of Humility

Christmas Midnight Mass 2015

One of the most well-loved saints in the Catholic Church is St Francis of Assisi, a man who has certainly inspired our Holy Father to assume his name at the start of his pontificate. This particular saint deserves mention tonight because there is profound and deep connection between the spirituality of this Saint and the significance of Christ’s coming at Christmas. For the Saint, Christmas had always been the Feast of Feasts, yet he did not think it had been celebrated as it could have been. The poverty of Christ had become lost in the extravagance of the Christmas festivities. The solution St Francis proposed was not in the form of a profound sermon or complex theology on humility, but a visual homily using the scene of the Crèche or Nativity scene. And pointing to the scene, he spoke to the people about the nativity of the poor King and the humble town of Bethlehem.

St. Francis of Assisi reflecting on the Incarnation saw within it the Humility of God and exhorts his followers in this way:   “Brothers, look at the humility of God, and pour out your hearts before Him! Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by Him! Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves, that He who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally!”  In it he saw humility made real before him, he saw poverty chosen freely, and chose this both for himself and eventually for the brothers and sisters who would follow him. He recognised that poverty flowed from humility and that it was more than just living with less money; it was living in a relationships of solidarity with the poor and the marginalised wherever they may be.  To Francis this is the self-emptying love shown by God in the Incarnation, an act of love and liberation. 

The story of St Francis and the Crèche highlights one of the unique aspects of the Christian Gospel story, an aspect which is often forgotten, the humility of God. Religion normally allows for a distant deity, not a god who stoops, who comes down, entering human history to be a part of the human situation.  A common picture of God or gods is, that of a towering omnipotent, unapproachable presence, indifferent towards human suffering, and in constant need of appeasement. The Christmas story stands in stark contrast to the gods that the human mind has imagined. In the Gospel story, the divine incarnation happens in the most unpretentious place, in a stable. God shocks us, surprises us and even scandalises us with His Humility. On this Christmas night, the invisible Deity is made manifest in the visible humanity of one born of a mortal woman; the omnipotence of the second person of the Godhead condescends to the vulnerable weakness of a child. Today is the great Solemnity of Christmas, the great Feast of God’s Humility, the feast of God’s love incarnated, en-fleshed in the humble birth of a child in Bethlehem. Today, we encounter the God of humility in the radical humility of Christ.

The beauty of Christ’s humility on this feast day reveals as much as it conceals. He demonstrates through his own birth, the meaning of humility, which is to “give up everything that does not lead to God.” This is a necessary reminder especially when humility is no longer in vogue or respected. Instead, it is held in contempt. Humility is often regarded as a sign of weakness and even stupidity, a lack of prudence in an age that demands street wise tactics and an ego the size of a football field in order to survive. Thus, humility revealed as the pathway to God is concealed to our modern senses. Today’s world would have pooh poohed the path taken by God two millennia ago. The capacity to change and influence the world requires a whole list of factors missing from the Christmas story: wealth, power, a degree from a prestigious university, hide as thick as a rhino, success, achievement, a proven track record, connections with the right people, a magical public relations team and lots of media promotion.

Today, the humble often go unnoticed and are deemed insignificant. They make no impact on our lives and hardly warrant a flicker of our attention. The role models of our society are not the humble, but the selfishly ambitious, the proud, the arrogant. The people that our society looks up to – businessman, politicians, sports heroes, actors and actresses, singers, entertainers – they all tend to have one thing in common: a very high regard for themselves, a cocky self-confidence, an insatiable ego and ambition, and a great talent for self-promotion.

But let us now consider the humility of the Incarnation itself. The Son of God gave up his honour and glory, he let go of his position, he relinquished all of the riches of heaven, in order to become one of us, in order to save us from our sins. He gave up that glory in order to become a human baby, a helpless little infant. And here’s the irony of it all. God did not only take on frail human flesh and made Himself dependent upon the man and woman he created to now take care of him. Those hands which had formed galaxies and set the stars in place, those hands that had spun the earth on its axis, now just waving around, ineffectually. The mouth that had spoken the universe into existence, now just babbling and cooing. The sovereign Lord of creation, had now become the very picture of weakness and powerlessness and inability – a little baby. Not even a royal baby, not the son of a king; not a wealthy baby, the son of money and privilege. But instead, a peasant child born to poverty and want, raised in very humble circumstances. Surrounded not by God’s holy angels and the glory of heaven, but instead surrounded by sinful, fallen human beings (with the exception of his immaculately conceived mother) and a stinking, dirty barn. But Christ’s humility didn’t end with his birth or his childhood. It continued throughout his life.

So, how do we come before him on this Christmas night? What can we offer to him who created the universe and gave us everything we possess? The answer is this: we come to him in all humility, we come to him with nothing to offer but ourselves, when we have learnt how to “give up everything that does not lead to God, and all our worldly ambitions.” Thus, the only way in which we can truly come to encounter our Lord on this Christmas day, is to adorn the garment of humility and condescend to where he has chosen to lay his head for the night. If we want to restore Christmas to our culture, it will require more than just good intentions; it would require radical humility.  We will need to give up seats on the pews or places in line.  We will need to show grace, even when grace is not given. We need to make peace and offer forgiveness to those who have hurt us. Mercy instead of getting even would be the language of humility. We will need to humble ourselves and follow the example set by the baby in the manger, the shepherds in the field, and Mary and Joseph as they agreed to God’s plan. 

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in a Christmas homily drew attention once again to the Franciscan spirit of interior poverty, humility. “We must follow the interior path of Saint Francis – the path leading to that ultimate outward and inward simplicity which enables the heart to see. We must bend down, spiritually we must as it were go on foot, in order to pass through the portal of faith and encounter the God who is so different from our prejudices and opinions – the God who conceals himself in the humility of a newborn baby. In this spirit let us celebrate the liturgy of the holy night, let us strip away our fixation on what is material, on what can be measured and grasped. Let us allow ourselves to be made simple by the God who reveals himself to the simple of heart. And let us also pray especially at this hour for all who have to celebrate Christmas in poverty, in suffering, as migrants, that a ray of God’s kindness may shine upon them, that they – and we – may be touched by the kindness that God chose to bring into the world through the birth of his Son in a stable. Amen.”