May Jesus be reborn in your heart and life during Christmas 2022 and every day of the New Year 2023 .May He radiate His Presence from within you as sharing love, unconditional forgiveness, humble service, a compassionate heart, and overflowing generosity. May the Holy Babe of Bethlehem bless you with health in body and soul and grant you a peaceful and blessed New Year. I assure you of my special prayers during my Christmas Holy Masses and every day in the New Year. Fr. Tony. (Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604(akadavil@gmail.com)
May the LORD bless you and keep you!
May the LORD let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you!
May the LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!
(Book of Numbers 6:24-26)
May Jesus be reborn in your heart and life during Christmas 2022 and every day of the New Year 2023 May He radiate His Presence from within you as sharing love, unconditional forgiveness, humble service, a compassionate heart, and overflowing generosity. May the Holy Babe of Bethlehem bless you with health in body and soul and grant you a peaceful and blessed New Year. I assure you of my special prayers during my Christmas Holy Masses and every day in the New Year. Fr. Tony. (Fr. Anthony Kadavil Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604 (akadavil@gmail.com)
May the LORD bless you and keep you!
May the LORD let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you!
May the LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!
(Book of Numbers 6:24-26)
Christmas – a thematic homily no 1: Four Christmas questions answered:
- A) Is Christmas the greatest feast celebrated in the Church? The answer is NO! Easter is feast #1, Pentecost is #2 and Christmas is #3. The Roman Church started celebrating Christmas only after Christianity was recognized as the state religion.
- B) Was Jesus born on December 25th? The answer is NO! Many Fathers of the Church thought that Jesus was born on January 4th, in 4 B.C. before the death of King Herod the Great. Some Bible scholars fix Jesus’ birth in the month of September during the Feast of the Tabernacles when people travelled and when the sheep were in the field at night. December 25th was fixed by Pope Julius in A.D. 353 as a part of baptizing, or Christianizing, of pagan feasts so that the converted pagans might celebrate the birthday of Jesus on Dec 25th instead of celebrating the birthday the sun-god on Dec 25th (Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun)during winter solstice, or converted Roman soldiers might not celebrate the birthday of Mithra, the Roman god-of-virility or the converted farmers might not celebrate the birthday of their former god of agriculture, Saturn. It was Emperor Julianus who declared Christmas as a national holiday in the 6th Most of the present-day Christmas decorations like the Christmas carols and gifts, Christmas tree and Christmas lights are also remnants of the pagan celebrations. However, it was St. Francis of Assisi who first introduced the manger or Christmas crib in the 13th century.
- C) Where did the name Christmas originate? In medieval times, the celebration of Christmas took the form of a special Mass celebrated at midnight on the eve of Christ’s birth. Since this was the only time in the Catholic Church year when a Midnight Mass was allowed, it soon became known in Middle English as Christes Masse (Christ’s Mass), from which is derived Christmas. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
Question 4: Why do we celebrate Christmas with great rejoicing?
1: First, Christmas is the Feast of God’s sending us a Savior: God undertook the Incarnation of Jesus as True God and true man to save us from the bondage of sin. The Hindus believe in ten incarnations of God. The purpose of these incarnations is stated in their Holy Scripture, Bagavath Geetha or Song of God. “God incarnates to restore righteousness in the world whenever there is a large-scale erosion of moral values.” (“Dharma samstaphanarthe sambhavami yuge yuge.”). But the Christian Scriptures teach only one Incarnation, and its purpose is given in Jn 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”— (RVS 2 Catholic). We call our celebration of the Incarnation of God in a Baby today “Good News” because our Divine Savior has been born. As our Savior, Jesus liberated us from slavery to sin and atoned for our sins by his suffering, death, and Resurrection. Life messages: So, every Christmas reminds us that we need a Savior every day, to free us from our evil addictions and unjust, impure, and uncharitable tendencies. Christmas 2022 also challenges us to accept Jesus in the manger as our saving God and personal Savior and to surrender our lives to him, allowing him to rule our hearts and lives every day in the New Year.
# 2: Second, Christmas is the Feast of God’s sharing His love with us: Jesus, as our Savior, brought the “Good News” that our God is a loving, forgiving, merciful, rewarding God and not a judgmental, cruel, punishing God. He demonstrated by his life and teaching how God our Heavenly Father loves us, forgives us, provides for us, and rewards us. All his miracles were signs of this Divine Love. Jesus’ final demonstration of God’s love for us was his own death on the cross to atone for our sins and to make us children of God. Each Christmas reminds us that sharing love with others is our Christian privilege and duty, and every time we do that, Jesus is reborn in our lives. Life message: Let us humbly admit the truth with the German mystic Angelus Silesius “Christ could be born a thousand times in Bethlehem – but all in vain until He is born in me.” (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Angelus_Silesius) Hence, let us allow Jesus to be reborn in our hearts and lives, not only during Christmas, but every day, so that he may radiate the Light of his Presence from within us as sharing and selfless love, expressed in compassionate words and deeds, unconditional forgiveness, the spirit of humble service, and overflowing generosity.
# 3: Third, Christmas is the Feast of the Emmanuel (God living with us and within us): Christmas is the feast of the Emmanuel because God in the New Testament is a God Who continues to live with us in all the events of our lives as the “Emmanuel” announced by the angel to Mary. Jesus lives in us as Emmanuel in the Sacraments (especially in the Holy Eucharist), in the Bible, in the praying community, and in each believer, as the Holy Spirit residing in us makes us His “Temples.” Life message: Christmas reminds us that we are bearers of God with the missionary privilege and duty of conveying Jesus to those around us by loving them as Jesus did, through sacrificial, humble, committed service. Sharing with others Jesus, the Emmanuel living within us, is the best Christmas gift we can give, or receive, today. Fr. Tony
Homily starter Christmas anecdotes: 1) “Who is the Messiah they are praying for?” There are many great movies about Jesus in different languages. Among them are the monumental movies like The Greatest Story Ever Told, (1965), King of Kings, (1927) and Jesus of Nazareth (1977). In the beginning of The Greatest Story Ever Told, there is a scene in which we see the Israelites praying for a Messiah. They are not just praying, rather they are crying out for the promised Messiah to save them. This prayer reminds us of the prayer given in the Book of Prophet Isaiah where we read, “O! that you would rend the heavens and come down!” (64:1). As they are praying, a Roman centurion asks King Herod, “Who is the Messiah they are praying for?” Immediately Herod replies, “Someone who will never come!” King Herod and so many others thought that the Messiah would never come. — But in the fullness of time God sent His only-begotten Son to this world to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem. And when Jesus, the Son of God, was born, there was celebration in heaven. Angels appeared in the skies and sang, “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to those with whom He is pleased” (Lk 2:14). (Fr. Jose Panthaplamthottyil CMI) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) The first live Christmas crib: In 1223, St. Francis of Assisi inaugurated a pious practice that today has become so common that many think that it always existed. This great saint, as he was traversing the rolling hills of central Italy one December to proclaim the Gospel, noticed that few of his countrymen were taking the mysteries of the Faith seriously. Many were not even preparing for Christmas. Of those who were getting ready to celebrate the Lord’s birth, they looked at it as an event tied exclusively to the past. The mysteries of the Faith had become sterile. The central persons in the drama had become stale and lifeless, incapable even of stimulating his contemporaries’ imaginations — and therefore no longer capable of inspiring them to a greater relationship of mutual love with God in the present. To counteract these tendencies, St. Francis set up the first crèche in recorded history on Christmas Eve, 1223, in the town of Greccio. He brought in live animals — an ox and an ass. He recruited a newborn baby and a set of young parents. Hay and a manger were brought in. There was even the attempt — with hundreds of burning torches — to create the luminescence of a bright star. And Francis could not have been happier with the results. People came from all over to see the living nativity. Through all the sounds, sights, and even smells, the multitudes became convinced that Christmas was not just a cute story, but a real event, one that was not just PAST, but something which they were called to enter in the present. Soon living crèches like this spread throughout Italy and into other parts of Europe. The phenomenon soon extended into art, as artists started to paint nativity scenes with all the main characters dressed anachronistically in 13th century garb — to emphasize that Christmas is not just a bygone event, but, more important, one very much in progress, in which every believer is called to “go now to Bethlehem” and “pay [Christ] homage.” — As St. Francis’ first biographer wrote, “The Child Jesus had been forgotten in the hearts of many; but, by the working of God’s grace, [the Child Jesus] was brought to life again through his servant Francis and stamped upon their fervent memory.” (Fr. Roger Landry) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) Summarizing theology in one sentence: Karl Barth, one of the great Protestant theologians was asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Divinity School. At the end of a captivating closing lecture, the president of the seminary announced that Dr. Barth was not well and was quite tired. “Therefore, I will ask just one question on behalf of all of us.” He turned to the renowned theologian and asked, “Of all the theological insights you have ever had, which do you consider to be the greatest of them all?“ It was the perfect question for a man who had written literally tens of thousands of pages of some of the most sophisticated theology ever put into print. Karl Barth closed his tired eyes, and he thought for a minute, and then he half smiled, opened his eyes, and said to those young seminarians, “The greatest theological insight that I have ever had is this: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” — Christmas is the celebration of this great Divine Love for us sinful humans. (Rev. Bill Adams) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) Abnormal birth: After explaining childbirth, the biology teacher asked her 3rd graders to write an essay on “childbirth” in their families. Susan went home and asked her mother how she was born. Her mother, who was busy at the time, said, “A big white swan brought you darling, and left you on our doorstep.” Continuing her research, she asked grandma how she got her mother as a child. Being in the middle of something, her grandma similarly deflected the question by saying, “A fairy brought your mom as a little baby, and I found her in our garden in an open box”. Then the girl went and asked her great-grandmother how she got her grandma as a baby. “I picked her from a box I found in the gooseberry bush,” said the surprised great grandma. With this information the girl wrote her essay. When the teacher asked her later to read it in front of the class, she stood up and began, “I was very sad to find out that there has not been a single natural birth in our family for three generations… All our children were extraterrestrials.” (Rev. Fairchild). –Today the words of Isaiah tell us of another non-normal birth. It’s a non-normal birth, never before, nor after, seen or experienced, because it is the birth of God as man – Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, as our Savior— born of a Virgin Mother. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) Christmas conversion: “This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.” – Howard W. Hunter (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) Are we on God’s side? Many years ago, when Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States of America, there was a civil war (1861-1865) between the northern states and the southern states. During this civil war there were times the northern states were at the brink of defeat. On one such occasion one of the generals approached Lincoln and said, “Mr. President, I am confident we are going to win this war because God is on our side.” Then Lincoln said with a smile, “But I am not so sure whether we are always on the side of God.” — As President Lincoln said, God is always on our side, and this is one of the most important messages of Christmas. It is because God is on our side that he sent his only Son into this world to die for us on the cross for our salvation. But the big question is, are we always on the side of God? If we are not always on the side of God, this is the time to declare our loyalty to God and our love for him. We can do this by accepting Jesus once again as our Lord and Savior. (Fr. Jose Panthaplamthottyil CMI) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
7) Angel People and Star People: There were two kinds of people at Christmas, Angel People and Star People. The Angel People were those who knew the story, those who knew and were living in expectation, like the Shepherds. They knew the prophecies of the coming of a Messiah and so the message of the Angel didn’t surprise them. The Star People were like the Wisemen, people still on the journey, people still searching and seeking out the meaning of life. But once the Star People and the Angel People had experienced the newborn Messiah, they could longer stay in those roles. Their lives had been changed. — So, I want to give them different names. Since the birth of Christ, there are Seekers and there are Pointers. Now, I know what our mothers told us, “It’s not polite to point,” but in this instance I think it’s OK. Because, we’re called to point out Jesus, as Lord and Savior, to a world of Seekers. (Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) “I know a secret!” During a pastoral call, a three-year-old boy climbed in the lap of a pastor and whispered confidentially, “I know a secret!” The pastor asked, “Will you tell me your secret?” “Yes,” the little fellow giggled delightedly, “but you mustn’t tell my mamma.” When the pastor promised not to tell, the boy continued, “My mamma’s going to the hospital to have a baby. But don’t tell her. Me and Daddy want her to be surprised!” — Would you be surprised if someone told you that you were going to have a baby? The men and children here this morning would say, “That lets me out!” Women over 50 would say, “Who do you think you’re kidding?” When an angel came to the Virgin Mary, it was a surprise when he told her that she was to have a baby. The fact is that regardless of sex or age, every one of us is going to have a baby this Christmas! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
page summary):
(You may add a homily starter anecdote here).
Why do we celebrate Christmas with great rejoicing?
1: First, Christmas is the Feast of God’s sending us a Savior: God undertook the Incarnation of Jesus as True God and true man to save us from the bondage of sin. The Hindus believe in ten incarnations of God. The purpose of these incarnations is stated in their Holy Scripture, Bagavath Geetha or Song of God. “God incarnates to restore righteousness in the world whenever there is a large-scale erosion of moral values.” (“Dharma samstaphanarthe sambhavami yuge yuge.”). But the Christian Scriptures teach only one Incarnation, and its purpose is given in Jn 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”— (RVS 2 Catholic). We call our celebration of the Incarnation of God in a Baby today “Good News” because our Divine Savior has been born. As our Savior, Jesus liberated us from slavery to sin and atoned for our sins by his suffering, death, and Resurrection. So, every Christmas reminds us that we need a Savior every day, to free us from our evil addictions and unjust, impure, and uncharitable tendencies. Christmas 2022 also challenges us to accept Jesus in the manger as our saving God and personal Savior and to surrender our lives to him, allowing him to rule our hearts and lives every day in the New Year.
# 2: Second, Christmas is the Feast of God’s sharing His love with us: Jesus, as our Savior, brought the “Good News” that our God is a loving, forgiving, merciful, rewarding God and not a judgmental, cruel, punishing God. He demonstrated by his life and teaching how God our Heavenly Father loves us, forgives us, provides for us, and rewards us. All his miracles were signs of this Divine Love. Jesus’ final demonstration of God’s love for us was his own death on the cross to atone for our sins and to make us children of God. Each Christmas reminds us that sharing love with others is our Christian privilege and duty, and every time we do that, Jesus is reborn in our lives. Let us humbly admit the truth with the German mystic Angelus Silesius “Christ could be born a thousand times in Bethlehem – but all in vain until He is born in me.” (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Angelus_Silesius) Hence, let us allow Jesus to be reborn in our hearts and lives, not only during Christmas, but every day, so that he may radiate the Light of his Presence from within us as sharing and selfless love, expressed in compassionate words and deeds, unconditional forgiveness, the spirit of humble service, and overflowing generosity.
# 3: Third, Christmas is the Feast of the Emmanuel (God living with us and within us): Christmas is the feast of the Emmanuel because God in the New Testament is a God Who continues to live with us in all the events of our lives as the “Emmanuel” announced by the angel to Mary. Jesus lives in us as Emmanuel in the Sacraments (especially in the Holy Eucharist), in the Bible, in the praying community, and in each believer, as the Holy Spirit residing in us makes us His “Temples.” Christmas reminds us that we are bearers of God with the missionary privilege and duty of conveying Jesus to those around us by loving them as Jesus did, through sacrificial, humble, committed service. Sharing with others Jesus, the Emmanuel living within us, is the best Christmas gift we can give, or receive, today.
Christmas homily-starter anecdotes:
1) Christmas questions answered: A.) Is Christmas the greatest feast celebrated in the Church? The answer is NO! Easter is feast #1, Pentecost is #2 and Christmas is #3. The Roman Church started celebrating Christmas only after Christianity was recognized as the state religion. B) Was Jesus born on December 25th? The answer is NO! Many Fathers of the Church thought that Jesus was born on January 4th, in 4 B.C. before the death of King Herod the Great. Some Bible scholars fix Jesus’ birth in the month of September during the Feast of the Tabernacles when people travelled and when the sheep were in the field at night. December 25th was fixed by Pope Julius in A.D. 353 as a part of baptizing, or Christianizing, of pagan feasts so that the converted pagans might celebrate the birthday of Jesus on Dec 25th instead of celebrating the birthday the Sun-god during winter solstice, while converted Roman soldiers might celebrate Christmas instead the birthday of Mithras, the Roman god-of-virility (Deus Solus Invictus). The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring the god of agriculture, Saturn. Later the Kalends of January were observed to celebrate the triumph of life over death. The entire season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun., or Saturnalia). It was Emperor Julianus who declared Christmas as a national holiday in the 6th century. Most of the present-day Christmas decorations like the Christmas carols and gifts, Christmas tree and Christmas lights are also remnants of the pagan celebrations. (It was St. Francis of Assisi who first introduced the manger or Christmas crib in the 13th century). C) Where did the name Christmas originate? In medieval times, the celebration of Christmas took the form of a special Mass celebrated at midnight on the eve of Christ’s birth. Since this was the only time in the Catholic Church year when a Midnight Mass was allowed, it soon became known in Middle English as Christes Masse (Christ’s Mass), from which is derived Christmas. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) “Who is the Messiah they are praying for?” There are many great movies about Jesus in different languages. Among them are the monumental movies like The Greatest Story Ever Told, (1965), King of Kings, (1927) and Jesus of Nazareth (1977). In the beginning of The Greatest Story Ever Told, there is a scene in which we see the Israelites praying for a Messiah. They are not just praying, rather they are crying out for the promised Messiah to save them. This prayer reminds us of the prayer given in the Book of Prophet Isaiah where we read, “O! that you would rend the heavens and come down!” (64:1). As they are praying, a Roman centurion asks King Herod, “Who is the Messiah they are praying for?” Immediately Herod replies, “Someone who will never come!” King Herod and so many others thought that the Messiah would never come. — But in the fullness of time God sent His only-begotten Son to this world to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem. And when Jesus, the Son of God, was born, there was celebration in heaven. Angels appeared in the skies and sang, “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to those with whom He is pleased” (Lk 2:14). (Fr. Jose Panthaplamthottyil CMI) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) The first live Christmas crib: In 1223, St. Francis of Assisi inaugurated a pious practice that today has become so common that many think that it always existed. This great saint, as he was traversing the rolling hills of central Italy one December to proclaim the Gospel, noticed that few of his countrymen were taking the mysteries of the Faith seriously. Many were not even preparing for Christmas. Of those who were getting ready to celebrate the Lord’s birth, they looked at it as an event tied exclusively to the past. The mysteries of the Faith had become sterile. The central persons in the drama had become stale and lifeless, incapable even of stimulating his contemporaries’ imaginations — and therefore no longer capable of inspiring them to a greater relationship of mutual love with God in the present. To counteract these tendencies, St. Francis set up the first crèche in recorded history on Christmas Eve, 1223, in the town of Greccio. He brought in live animals — an ox and an ass. He recruited a newborn baby and a set of young parents. Hay and a manger were brought in. There was even the attempt — with hundreds of burning torches — to create the luminescence of a bright star. And Francis could not have been happier with the results. People came from all over to see the living nativity. Through all the sounds, sights, and even smells, the multitudes became convinced that Christmas was not just a cute story, but a real event, one that was not just PAST, but something which they were called to enter in the present. Soon living crèches like this spread throughout Italy and into other parts of Europe. The phenomenon soon extended into art, as artists started to paint nativity scenes with all the main characters dressed anachronistically in 13th century garb — to emphasize that Christmas is not just a bygone event, but, more important, one very much in progress, in which every believer is called to “go now to Bethlehem” and “pay [Christ] homage.” — As St. Francis’ first biographer wrote, “The Child Jesus had been forgotten in the hearts of many; but, by the working of God’s grace, [the Child Jesus] was brought to life again through his servant Francis and stamped upon their fervent memory.” (Fr. Roger Landry) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) Summarizing theology in one sentence: Karl Barth, one of the great Protestant theologians was asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Divinity School. At the end of a captivating closing lecture, the president of the seminary announced that Dr. Barth was not well and was quite tired. “Therefore, I will ask just one question on behalf of all of us.” He turned to the renowned theologian and asked, “Of all the theological insights you have ever had, which do you consider to be the greatest of them all?“ It was the perfect question for a man who had written literally tens of thousands of pages of some of the most sophisticated theology ever put into print. Karl Barth closed his tired eyes, and he thought for a minute, and then he half smiled, opened his eyes, and said to those young seminarians, “The greatest theological insight that I have ever had is this: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Christmas is the celebration of this great Divine Love for us sinful humans. (Rev. Bill Adams) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) Abnormal birth: After explaining childbirth, the biology teacher asked her 3rd graders to write an essay on “childbirth” in their families. Susan went home and asked her mother how she was born. Her mother, who was busy at the time, said, “A big white swan brought you darling, and left you on our doorstep.” Continuing her research, she asked grandma how she got her mother as a child. Being in the middle of something, her grandma similarly deflected the question by saying, “A fairy brought your mom as a little baby, and I found her in our garden in an open box”. Then the girl went and asked her great-grandmother how she got her grandma as a baby. “I picked her from a box I found in the gooseberry bush,” said the surprised great grandma. With this information the girl wrote her essay. When the teacher asked her later to read it in front of the class, she stood up and began, “I was very sad to find out that there has not been a single natural birth in our family for three generations… All our children were extraterrestrials.” (Rev. Fairchild). –Today the words of Isaiah tell us of another non-normal birth. It’s a non-normal birth, never before, nor after, seen or experienced, because it is the birth of God as man – Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, as our Savior— born of a Virgin Mother. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) Christmas conversion: “This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.” – Howard W. Hunter (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
7) Are we on God’s side? Many years ago, when Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States of America, there was a civil war (1861-1865) between the northern states and the southern states. During this civil war there were times the northern states were at the brink of defeat. On one such occasion one of the generals approached Lincoln and said, “Mr. President, I am confident we are going to win this war because God is on our side.” Then Lincoln said with a smile, “But I am not so sure whether we are always on the side of God.” — As President Lincoln said, God is always on our side, and this is one of the most important messages of Christmas. It is because God is on our side that he sent his only Son into this world to die for us on the cross for our salvation. But the big question is, are we always on the side of God? If we are not always on the side of God, this is the time to declare our loyalty to God and our love for him. We can do this by accepting Jesus once again as our Lord and Savior. (Fr. Jose Panthaplamthottyil CMI) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) Angel People and Star People: There were two kinds of people at Christmas, Angel People and Star People. The Angel People were those who knew the story, those who knew and were living in expectation, like the Shepherds. They knew the prophecies of the coming of a Messiah and so the message of the Angel didn’t surprise them. The Star People were like the Wisemen, people still on the journey, people still searching and seeking out the meaning of life. But once the Star People and the Angel People had experienced the newborn Messiah, they could longer stay in those roles. Their lives had been changed. — So, I want to give them different names. Since the birth of Christ, there are Seekers and there are Pointers. Now, I know what our mothers told us, “It’s not polite to point,” but in this instance I think it’s OK. Because, we’re called to point out Jesus, as Lord and Savior, to a world of Seekers. (Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) “I know a secret!” During a pastoral call, a three-year-old boy climbed in the lap of a pastor and whispered confidentially, “I know a secret!” The pastor asked, “Will you tell me your secret?” “Yes,” the little fellow giggled delightedly, “but you mustn’t tell my mamma.” When the pastor promised not to tell, the boy continued, “My mamma’s going to the hospital to have a baby. But don’t tell her. Me and Daddy want her to be surprised!” — Would you be surprised if someone told you that you were going to have a baby? The men and children here this morning would say, “That lets me out!” Women over 50 would say, “Who do you think you’re kidding?” When an angel came to the Virgin Mary, it was a surprise when he told her that she was to have a baby. The fact is that regardless of sex or age, every one of us is going to have a baby this Christmas! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
Christmas Jokes
1) “How many people attend your Church?” one pastor asked another. “Sixty regular, and about three hundred C and E.” “What’s C and E?” the first asked. Came the quick answer: “Christmas and Easter. We affectionately call these Christmas-Christians Poinsettias, and Easter-Christians Easter Lilies.”
2) “God gets an A; you get an F.” Just before Christmas a college professor read the following on an examination paper: “God only knows the answer to this question. Merry Christmas.” Across the same paper the professor wrote: “God gets an A; you get an F. Happy New Year.”
3) A beautiful diamond ring for Christmas: A guy bought his wife a beautiful diamond ring for Christmas. A friend of his said, “I thought she wanted one of those sporty 4-Wheel drive vehicles.” “She did,” he replied. “But where in the heck was I gonna find a fake Jeep?”
4) “Your mother and I are getting a divorce”: An elderly man in Oklahoma calls his son in New York and says, “I hate to ruin your day son, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are getting a divorce; 45 years of marriage… and that much misery is enough!” “Dad, what are you talking about?” the son yells. “We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,” the old dad explained. “We’re sick of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Hong Kong and tell her!”. Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. “Like heck they’re getting divorced,” she shouts, “I’ll take care of this.” She calls her elderly father immediately, and screams at him, “You are not getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, you hear me?” she yelled as she hung up the phone. The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. “Okay”, he says, “it’s all set. They’re both coming for Christmas and paying their own air-fare.”
5) “Didn’t You Get My E-Mail?”As a little girl climbed onto Santa’s lap, Santa asked the usual, “And what would you like for Christmas?” The child stared at him open-mouthed and horrified for a minute, then gasped, “Didn’t you get my E-mail?”
6) “I’ll return when you’re sober:” At Christmas a man came to see me with a problem. Sniffing the air, I said ‘I’m sorry I can’t help you. Mick– it’s because of the drink. Can you please come back later?’ ‘That’s okay, Father Paddy,’ he replied. ‘I’ll return when you’re sober’ (Rev. Paddy O’Kane).
7) Baby Jesus still a Baby? A four-year-old girl went with a group of family and friends to see the Christmas lights, displayed at various locations throughout the city. At one Church, they stopped and got out to look more closely at a beautiful nativity scene. “Isn’t that beautiful?” said the little girl’s grandmother. “Look at all the animals, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.” “Yes, Grandma,” replied the granddaughter. “It is really nice. But there is only one thing that bothers me. Isn’t Baby Jesus ever going to grow up…? He’s the same size he was last year!” L/22
YouTube:1) Christmas: Christian or Pagan by Jim McClarty. HISTORY (1/3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XvnZq_a8BqE
2) Silent Monks Sing the Hallelujah Chorus: https://youtu.be/pRhjWdr-LAA
3)Christmas song & dancing Olate dogs in Christmas costumes: https://youtu.be/aXFXGEtpi3k
4) Release from prison on Christmas: https://youtu.be/vVoVRro0R2I
5) Holy Night: https://youtu.be/4sma7YVkq4w
“Scriptural Homilies” no. 6a by Fr. Tony (akadavil@gmail.com)
Visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle C homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies of Fr. Nick’s collection of homilies or Resources in the CBCI website: https://www.cbci.in. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020) Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604
Christmas-Thematic homily no 2
A homily on the real message of Christmas. (December 25, 2022)
The central idea of Christmas is God’s Incarnation as man to save mankind from the bondage of sin. Hence, Christmas is the feast of our redemption. The message of Christmas is that God became man to be with us as a saving, Emmanuel, God-with-us. The Holy Bible proclaims the Christmas message in six different ways:
1) Christmas proclaims the message of a Savior for mankind. To Joseph the angel spoke about Mary, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). Religion will never save a person from the penalty of his sins; he needs a Savior to do that. That is why the angel announced to the shepherds out in the fields at night, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:10-11). When the aged Simeon held the infant Jesus in his arms he said, “For my eyes have seen your salvation” (Lk 2:30-32). God entered this world as a human baby to fulfill his mission to rescue lost and sinful people. He took the name Jesus which in Hebrew (Jehoshua) means “Yahweh saves.” God has come not simply to rescue us, but to remake us — a process by which we die to our old ways of living and are reborn into new existence in God’s family.
2 )Christmas proclaims the message of God’s love for man. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). God could have chosen so many other ways to save mankind. But becoming man and dying for saving mankind was way God chose to express His love for mankind.
3) Christmas proclaims the message of God’s Self-revelation to man. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). “No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made him known.” (Jn 1:18; RSV 2 Catholic). “He [The Son]… reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of His Nature, upholding the universe by His Word of Power” (Heb 1:3a; RSV2 Catholic).
4) Christmas proclaims the singular and unique message that believing in Jesus is the only way of salvation. “No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6) says Jesus, in contrast to the popular idea that all religions are different paths leading to God and that God loves all religions and those struggling to find their way to Him. The Acts of the Apostles affirms the same idea when St Peter, on trial before the rulers and elders in Jerusalem, “for teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead,” and “filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’” (Acts 4:2-10; RSV2Catholic).
5) Christmas proclaims a message of God’s involvement in human affairs. This is clear from the fact that Jesus experienced personally every developmental phase of human life from conception through adulthood and death. God, then, knows intimately our struggles and stresses, our hopes and dreams, our sorrows and sufferings. The author of Hebrews clarifies this, saying of Jesus: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity. . . For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb 2:14-18).
6) Christmas proclaims a message of hope and redemption for mankind. St. Paul proclaims, “It is because of Him [God] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” (1 Cor 1:30). That is why
- S Lewis in Mere Christianity, (1960) opens Bk 4, Section 5 “The Obstinate Toy Soldiers) with a quotation from On the Incarnation written by St Athanasius, one of the ancient Fathers of the Church: “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.”
Life messages: 1)Let us enjoy the true spirit of Christmas by accepting Jesus the Christmas baby as our Savior-God. 2) Let us invite Him to rule our lives and ask Him for the strengthening power of His Holy Spirit to do God’s will everyday of our lives
“Scriptural Homilies” no. 6b by Fr. Tony (akadavil@gmail.com)
Thematic homily No 3: Jesus is reborn in our lives everyday
Archbishop’s Christmas message: Christmas is a wonderful time of year. There are decorations, songs, gift–giving, and gatherings with loved ones. We have tried to make this season a light and happy one because there is the joy that God became man. God took flesh in order to bring us salvation. But there is also a very serious side to the story of Christmas which we might overlook because we have sought to make this such a festive time of year. Christmas is more than a festive tale; it is also a very serious story.
The Bible tells us that Mary and Joseph are away from home when it was time for the baby to be born. They are not home in Nazareth but are in Bethlehem. They find a makeshift place where the baby could be born, with all of the struggles involved with that. Then, once the baby is born, shepherds arrive. We make the shepherds look nice in our nativity scenes but these were the guys who lived in the fields with animals. They were looked down upon and had a low reputation. Let us not dwell long on what they looked like or smelled like. I doubt that most of us would feel comfortable if one of them came and sat next to us in the pew. And then a few days later, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple and Anna and Simeon told Mary that, because of this baby, a sword would pierce her heart. Then men from some foreign country, probably not even speaking the language of Mary and Joseph, arrive bringing gifts. Mary and Joseph must have wondered what was happening. Then the civil authorities tried to find out where Mary and Joseph were so they could kill their baby.
This is the story of struggles. We have made it a happy one because of the joy that God is bringing us salvation but we should not overlook the seriousness of the story. In the midst of our celebration of Christmas may we not forget the serious message of Christmas for us personally. This baby in the manger came to die on the cross for us and will return again at the end of the world. The Lord will return not wrapped in swaddling clothes but wrapped in light as with a garment. He will not come to die on the cross, rather He will come accompanied by an army of angels. He will not come to be judged; He will come to judge. This baby is the Lord who will come again to establish His kingdom.
The serious message of Christmas is not merely that Jesus came into the world at Bethlehem, but that He comes to us now. Each one of us will one day stand before this baby and whether or not we are welcomed into His kingdom depends on whether we welcome Him here and now.
How does the Lord come to us now? He comes in many ways. He comes to us in ordinary ways that are easy for us to overlook, as easy as it was for most of the people of Bethlehem not to realize who had come into their town.
He comes to us through prayer. Prayer means a conversation with God. It means for us to speak to God and allow God to speak to us. Sometimes that may not describe our prayer. Perhaps you have had the experience of talking with someone and they do all of the talking. It is difficult to say a word. We can only stand there and listen while they speak. This can be frustrating. Sometimes I think God must feel the same way when we pray. We do all of the talking. How often do we take time just to be silent with the Lord and let Him talk to us? After all, who has more to say, we or God? God knows our needs even before we speak them.
The Lord also comes to us in the Eucharist. We are to realize that the Eucharist is real, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, His Body, His Blood. This is what Jesus did at the Last Supper when He said, “This is My Body,” “This is My Blood.”
The Lord comes to us in Scripture. Whether we read it on the pages of the Bible or it is proclaimed to us through a human voice, it is really God speaking to us.
The Lord comes to us, and this may be the most painful of all for us to accept. He comes to us sometimes through the words of other people. When they challenge us in how we are living. When they challenge us to change.
He comes to us in the poor. Do we actually see Jesus in the poor? The Lord tells us that whatever you do to them, that is what you are doing to me.
In all the ways the Lord comes to us here and now, we are to welcome Him into our lives as truly as Mary and Joseph did. We are to allow Him to change us into the person He calls us to be.
Sometimes in youth ministry teenagers are asked this question: 20 years from now, how will you judge that you are being successful in life? The teenagers give all sorts of answers. They say: I will be successful if I have a nice house, or a new car, or making a lot of money at my work, or have money in the bank.
Then the teenagers are asked, when you are lying on your deathbed, how will you judge that your life has been successful? And they will say, well, if I have helped other people; if I have shown love; if I have forgiven.
The teens are then asked why these two lists are so different. Why is there such a difference between how you will judge that your life is being successful twenty years from now and how you will judge if your life is successful when you are dying?
For all of us the serious question is whether we are welcoming the Lord here and now into our hearts and living as He calls us to live. I have been with a number of people as they are dying and I have seen people die in all sorts of ways. Some people die with great peace, great joy. I have seen people also die with great remorse, great regret. I remember a successful business
man, about two or three days before he died, telling me that he realized that everything that he thought was important didn’t mean a thing. I am glad he finally realized it but wouldn’t it have been wonderful if he had realized it decades before?
The Lord came into the world in Bethlehem, but the Lord comes to us now. In the beauty of this holy season, let us remember the Lord wishes to come to us, change us, abide in us.
This is the serious message of this happy season. Good people, what is the point of placing the statue of Jesus in the manger scene if we don’t place Him into our hearts?
May this Christmas be a grace filled time to truly welcome the Lord into our lives. May you and your loved ones have a merry and holy Christmas.
Sincerely in the Lord, Thomas J. Rodi, Archbishop of Mobile, Alabama, U. S. A. Dec 18, 2022
“Scriptural Homilies” no. 6c by Fr. Tony
Fr Tony's Homilies 