To each and to all, a very merry Christmas. I hope and pray the joy of this feast overruns you, to sweep you up in the Good News: the Son of Mary is the Son of God; the Saviour is brother to all humanity; all humanity can adopted into God’s family. For if God has made himself a member of a human family, it is so that we can be part of his heavenly family.
This is a wonderful time of the calendar year. Bright mornings and long evenings are just what our holidays are about. Twilight by any reckoning is more than an hour; there’s more daylight than nighttime. I’m sure that’s a waking nightmare for some parents. I’d be happy to bless the sleep of your diminutive insomniacs, but you might have to wait a day or two for it to take effect!
Our caroling welcomes our Saviour in to the world as its light. When we herald the angels’ song, we sing “light and life to all he brings.” The little town of Bethlehem has shining down its dark streets “the everlasting light”. On a silent night, we lullaby “Love’s true light”. All ye faithful will laud him as “light from light”.
All this is because those in the northern hemisphere are done with darkness for the year. The northern winter has reached its depth. And so it seems that the Babe of Bethlehem has conquered its cold and lightless existence by entering it and bringing all joy. And so, on this great day, the world acclaims the Lord Jesus as the light of the world.
But, here in the southern hemisphere we have all the light we could want. In fact, our days are getting shorter. Friday will be a whole minute shorter, a minute I know you’ll miss terribly! And so it will go with shorter and shorter days until the winter solstice on 21 June 2025.
So, are we in the southern hemisphere at a disadvantage at Christmas time? Are we missing out on the full message of Christmas and its joy because we’re getting too much sun? Is the imagery inaccessible to us who gather for the Lord’s Eucharist in the bright light of mid-summer’s day?
It’s fascinating to see that the Baby in our crib is dressed much the same way as he will be on the cross. His posture too is strongly reminiscent of Good Friday: legs together at the knees and ankles, and arms wide outstretched.
From his bed of hay, the Lord Jesus is saying that Christmas meets Easter. From an animal’s feeding trough, he shows that he has chosen our mortal life for himself. This life won’t be taken from him: he will lay it down of his own loving free will – for us.
So, although our days are shortening and the sun won’t shine as long from this point on for a while, our Christmas imagery of light and darkness speaks to the Lord’s abiding presence with us. Through it all, God is with us – not just on joyful, bright, jubilant, festive days like this one, but also on sorrowful, sombre, mournful, and solemn ones.
God is with us always in the Person of Christ. As his nickname Emmanuel says, Jesus is God-with-us: he is for us; he is on our side. And his light shines into all the darkness that we make and encounter.
And so, we say he is here for us. Jesus has come for you. He is here for you. The Son of God left the glory of his heaven behind, embraced the cross, and revealed the resurrection from the dead – for you. The Lord Jesus joins us in every shadow of mortal life.
So, my prayer for you this Christmas is that the Light of the world himself may shine on you and through you. May he make you radiant with his grace, so that you and everyone around you would be convinced of our destiny – to abide with him in the unending day of heaven.
Though the days are becoming shorter and the shadows are lengthening, we are not without help. Though we face all that life brings, Jesus faced it first and is waiting for us on the other side.
Merry Christmas!
Fr Paul Rowse, OP
Parish Priest