Homily by:
Father Paul Weinberger, Pastor
St. William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
December 25th 2007
The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject Godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen
Up to this point over the four weeks of Advent we have heard all the stories from the Bible leading up to this night, especially focusing on this man and this woman, Our Lady and St. Joseph, and how history had prepared for the coming of the Messiah and yet, it hinged on the assent of these two individuals drawn by God to complete this work of His in preparation for the Messiah.
In the Gospels we hear how the Angel appeared to Our Lady and how the Angel appeared to St. Joseph and spoke the Word of God to each one individually and each one in his or her own way said, “Yes.” The Angel was there to guide them and deliver God’s message. The world didn’t know these two people but they were very dear to Heaven.
I remember during the last three years of seminary at St. Mary’s in Houston there was an incredibly beautiful chapel, which you should visit if you have the opportunity, and every day as we exited the chapel from the Mass or Liturgy of the hours we could see a mosaic above the vestibule with the Coat of Arms of the bishop, who constructed that beautiful chapel. His motto was written there in Latin; the word “serviam”, which means “I will serve.” This is the word that so many of us passed without considering it. What a fitting word to place over the door where there are seminarians because that is exactly what we were called to do…serve. Our presence in Chapel was one small way of saying, “I will serve.” It would prepare us for our future.
In the Bible we hear that in the very beginning and at the creation of each angel, each angel had that same choice, to serve or not to serve. The Doctors of the Church have considered this down through the ages. There was the most beautiful of all angels, Lucifer, the one who would be called “Light Bearer.” At the moment of his creation he was given the choice to serve and tradition has his response being, “I will not serve”, non-serviam. He was cast down from Heaven. Of course the Archangels and all the Heavenly Host of angels that we heard about in the Gospel today, when created one at a time, their response was, “I will serve”, serviam.
Friday as we were putting up the statue of St. Michael the Archangel across the street I was thinking about all of this. The statue depicts St. Michael battling the devil; there is a collar around the devil’s neck and a sword ready to stab the devil yet again. St. Michael is a beautiful angel because of his service and the devil is hideous with his bat wings and dragon’s tail. There is such a contrast between one who will serve and one who will not serve. Their lives are totally different in direction.
The fact is that Our Lady was asked by God through the Angel to serve and her response was an unabashed, unequivocal, “I will serve.” St. Joseph and Our Lady were betrothed but had not begun to live together. St. Joseph was at the point of divorcing her because he didn’t understand what was going on until the Angel explained it all to him. St. Joseph’s response was, “I will serve.” These two insignificant people in the world were eager to do what was good. God asked them to be part of a mission that would save the world through their service. God chose them and called them to serve Him and like these shepherds, they were quick to serve Him.
The beauty of this night is enhanced with that proclamation from the Roman Martyrology of the Birth of Christ situated in history; things that you and I might not consider so important but a classical education would hold up as being most important. These milestones in history are situated in reference to a peg in a sure spot…. The Birth of Christ. It is so many years from this, so many years from that, that Christ enters history; eternity enters time.
As you leave today you will see two paintings on the way out. On one side you will see St. Stephen, whose Feast Day is December 26th. On the other side you will see the image of St. Augustine; they are quite beautiful. Study them today and in the future. They are painted on large pieces of slate. St. Augustine, a Doctor of the Church, writing on this day centuries ago mentions the reason why Christ has taken on our human nature. He writes in one of his sermons,
How beautifully St. Augustine writes. If you are not familiar with St. Augustine there is someone you know, who is an avid fan of the saint; he is a self-proclaimed Augustinian and his name is Pope Benedict XVI, someone who has read and cherished the writings of this Doctor of the Church, who so pithily states the case for the importance of today.You would have suffered eternal death had He not been born in time. Never would you have been free from sinful flesh had He not taken on Himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness had it not been for this Mercy. You would never have returned to life had He not shared your death. You would have been lost had He not hastened to your aid. You would have perished had He not come. Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our Salvation and Redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which He, Who Is the Great and Eternal Day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.
These two people, Our Lady and St. Joseph cooperating with God’s mission, with His quest, have brought about something, which even the greatest of angels could not fathom or comprehend. Some Doctors of the Church and saints down through the ages have given the hypothesis that Lucifer could not comprehend how God would still remain God and yet take on a human nature. As we say in the Creed, “True God and True man”. It was too much; it would be as if you and I considered passing a whole day as a dog. This sounds like something you might see in a movie but to give up your dignity as a human being and pass just one day as a dog is something that doesn’t attract me in the least, but it does move us in the direction of seeing how the Divinity of Christ, taking on human nature lowered and humbled Himself to save us. His service has, as St. Augustine says, kept us from a life of unhappiness. His service has brought forth great things for mankind.
Wounded from our first parents, we could not help ourselves and yet God planned in the fullness of time, to send His Son on a mission. Thanks be to God Our Lady cooperated in her service; St. Joseph cooperated in his service, and our Lord entered time. Our Lord is most interested in entering time, especially 2007, 2008 and forward, and He can only do this just as He approached each individual angel, asking for our consent. He will not foist Himself on us; this is a volunteer service of the Lord and not the draft. He is training us to reject Godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age. As St. Paul says to Titus,
to cleanse for Himself a people as His own, eager to do what is good
If only you and I will open the doors, which were closed at Bethlehem, which can signify many things. They can signify a door ,or a heart, or life. A door opened in service to the Lord like these figures before us does not mean that you and I will be free of troubles and difficulties but just the opposite. It is a battle as the statue of St. Michael portrays. But we notice that St. Michael is on top and the devil is always on the bottom. The devil will not wake up one day and not be the devil. St. Michael understands that his service is all consuming but it is not forever that he will have to battle the devil. There will be the day, when this New Born King will come to judge the living and the dead and the devil and all those who serve him will be cast into Hell for all eternity, where there will be no happiness for all eternity, but eternal suffering.
This humble Shepherd born 2000 years ago in this House of Bread, (which is what Bethlehem means, House of Bread), His service can lead you and me if only we are eager to do what is good, all the way to Heaven.
The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen