Holding out for a Hero

Christmas Mass during the Night

Remember Bonnie Tyler? Perhaps, many of you would have forgotten that era when big hair-dos were in style and every woman wanted to look like Farah Fawcett (most women today would just count themselves lucky if they still had a few strands of hair on their heads). One of her biggest numbers was the song, “Holding out for a Hero.” Here’s the refrain to that song:

I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night

He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light

He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life!

Even though this is more of a “love song,” it expresses a universal desire- everyone wants a hero.  Everyone, once in a way, needs someone to come to the rescue, salvage the situation, rescue the “maiden-in-distress.” Just look around us today – there’s always someone calling out for a hero – someone who will fix this mess! There is nothing new about this.

Perhaps, this song could be aptly sung by the Israelites in the first reading, for they were “the people that walked in darkness … who lived in a land of deep shadow.” They had been “holding out … ‘til the end of the night.” They had suffered the loss of their kingdom, humiliation at the hands of pagan conquerors. They awaited the day for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, to see the “great light”, to finally see the day that their long awaited “Hero”, the Messiah, the one whom Isaiah called “Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace”, when the heir to the throne of King David, would come to gather in the bountiful harvest, divide the enemy’s spoils and break the heavy yoke of oppression, and destroy the weapons of war. What they did not expect, was for their Hero, this Saviour, to be born in obscurity instead of fanfare, born into earthly poverty rather than to wealth and power; and placed in a humble manger, a feeding trough for animals, instead of a jewel encrusted golden cot.

While today, the popular portrayal of Christmas in crèche and card emphasises the humanism of the story – the babe, the traveling/homeless holy family, the manger – the Gospel writer is sounding a challenge to the Roman imperial and religious claims of that day. The Christmas story begins with a census ordered by Caesar throughout his empire. A census is where a king would, for pride’s sake, measure the size of the kingdom and his military might. Bizarrely it’s this census that brings about the birth of an alternate king in the town in which his birth is prophesied; this act of human power and ego for Augustus also introduces a new king; God’s king, into the world. It is pretty amazing that God organises history in this way so that Caesar is basically a pawn in His plans; or a bit player at the start and end of Jesus’ life.

Expressions such as “the Son of God” and “the saviour of the world” were not exclusive to Christians, and indeed were not new to the people living under Roman occupation. They were already in circulation before Jesus was born. In stone monuments throughout the Roman Empire, chiseled in stone that from his birth, Caesar Augustus, the sovereign emperor mentioned at the beginning of our gospel, is proclaimed to be the divine Saviour, God manifest, and the beginning of the Good News (Evangelion), because he was said to have brought peace to the world, what we call today the “Pax Romana.” The Romans had laid claim to these titles for their Emperor first; but Saint Matthew and the other evangelists took those claims and applied them to Jesus. But the real audacity of this claim is not that Jesus Christ is like the great emperor Caesar Augustus. No, the claim is that Jesus Christ is better, far greater, in fact, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords.  Which is true?  Who is the true Saviour, Jesus or Caesar?

The “peace” and “salvation” brought by Caesar Augustus was not true peace nor salvation. At the heart of Augustus’ claim to peace was a pretty sinister suppression and destruction of anybody who stood against the empire. Rome was an intolerant regime that used its propaganda skills to humiliate and destroy those who would not conform. It was a peace enforced through brutality, bought with the price of violence and death. And in spite of all the imperial friendly historians and official propagandists of his time, Caesar Augustus was certainly no “hero”.

No, our hero is a very different hero. He’s not your classic hero; brawn, fast or even ruthless. Our hero did not impose His will over His subjects. They had to come willingly. His was the Way of Love, not the Way of violence. Instead of raining death and violence on His enemies, He subjected Himself to violence and death at the hands of His enemies. Instead of being self-serving, in wanting to make a name for Himself, our hero is self-effacing and self-sacrificing.  And for this He won true peace, a reconciliation between God and the world. Instead of a political, social or economic Saviour, we have Christ, a very different Saviour. In last Sunday’s gospel, we heard the angel tell Saint Joseph, “… you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.” Notice, He will save people from their sins, not from an occupying army, not from an economic recession, nor does he provide a practical solution to our problems. You and I, we need this kind of saving, we need this kind of Saviour. For our sins pose us the greatest danger. Our sins would consign us to the grave and to eternal damnation. And there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves or work our way out. If we have no sin, then His coming makes little if no sense at all. Sin is the reason for His coming. If we wish to celebrate Christmas earnestly, we must admit that we are sinners in need of salvation.

This is what this night is all about. Mankind has been holding out for this Hero. And He is more than ready for the fight because there is nothing, not even the power of Satan, or sin, or death, that can defeat Him. Christ is the real hero of our story, the real hero of Christmas – He is our Saviour, the Christ, the Lord God Himself. This is the true good news, the Evangelion, not Caesar’s counterfeit gospel. It is from Christ that we receive salvation, freedom and peace, not from any political leader, or human teacher, or problem-solver. All others are either counterfeit saviours or their achievements pale in comparison to Christ. The gospel, therefore, is good news, not just good advice, not just self-publicity, not just an exaggeration by spin-doctors to make our hero larger than life.  It’s the news of what God has done for you in Christ, to set you free. To accomplish this mission, He must be born in the flesh – that’s Christmas. But Christmas points to another feast – to Good Friday and Easter - where Christ ultimately achieves His mission via the cross. It is on the cross, as St Paul writes in the second reading, that Christ “sacrificed Himself for us in order to set us free from all wickedness and to purify a people so that it could be His very own and would have no ambition except to do good.”

Yes, Jesus Christ is the “hero” we have been waiting for and holding out for. In fact, He is bigger than the long-awaited Messianic King, the Jews were expecting.  He is bigger than any political, social or economic saviour the world offers. The truth is, He’s more than a prophet, as great as that is. He’s even beyond the larger-than-life superhero category. Indeed, He is far bigger than anything which we are capable of imagining. There is only One way to Salvation and He is it! This is because Jesus, the son of Mary, is none other than the Son of God. Yes, Jesus Christ is our true and everlasting “hero” and He waits today for you to kneel and prostrate before Him, to worship Him. For, “Today, a saviour has been born to us; he is Christ the Lord. Gloria in excelsis Deo!