A Five-Minute Christmas Homily
By Robert Fontana
The Christmas homily ought to be short! The meaning of the day is made abundantly clear in the carols sung, the readings proclaimed, the liturgy prayed, and the festivities in the home. The homilist need only add an exclamation point to what the Christmas liturgy shouts out with joy! Here’s my Five-Minute Christmas Homily for 2022.
Rob Church, Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us! When I say, “Jesus is Emmanuel,” please shout back to me, “God with us.” Let’s practice. JESUS IS EMMANUEL!
All GOD WITH US!
Rob God became a human being! God was born from the womb of Mary. The baby Jesus needed his diaper changed, needed to nurse in the middle of the night, had to be swaddled when he was cold and carried up and down the stable and sung to when he wouldn’t fall asleep. This little baby Jesus is Emmanuel.
All GOD WITH US!
Rob The child Jesus did not come just to get us to heaven. The child Jesus came to help us have the courage to fully live our lives on earth and to dare to do on earth what is done in heaven.
Isn’t that what we pray in The Our Father: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?” And what exactly is done in heaven? Love! Absolute love of God and of one another. Christmas invites us to love God by loving one another, and the earth itself. Jesus is Emmanuel.
All GOD WITH US!
Rob We are not talking about the sentimental love of a Hallmark Christmas movie, where every ending is happy and filled with holiday cheer. No, we are talking about the demanding love of the Gospels, a love that will sacrifice so that others may live, in good times and bad, in sickness and health, in war and in peace. We know what this love looks like: spouses being faithful to one another; foster parents taking in yet another child; elders caring for one another in sickness; citizens advocating for the rights of the unborn, women, and workers; compassionate citizens housing migrants and refugees; and corporate leaders adjusting their business models to help save the earth from the effects of climate change. Jesus is Emmanuel.
All GOD WITH US!
Rob My prayer for all of us this Christmas is for wisdom and courage: the wisdom to figure out how to fully love within the complex and challenging circumstances of life, and the courage to do so. This might mean: simply doing what you are doing at work and home more intentionally for the love of God; sharing possessions and financial resources with persons materially poor; repairing fractured relationships with a spouse or other family members; admitting an addiction to alcohol, pornography, drugs, gambling, shopping, etc., and getting the help needed for sobriety and healthy living. I hope for all of us it will mean avoiding political extremes and working hard to protect our democracy.
Whatever it is you need to do to live out the call to love more wisely and courageously within the circumstances of your life, remember, you and I are not alone. We can draw our strength and inspiration from Jesus, Emmanuel.
All GOD WITH US!
Rob A blessed and holy Christmas. God bless us everyone!
