Christmas
People Giving Flesh to the Word of God
December 25, 2011 – the third Mass of Christmas Day
Isaiah 52:7-10
Hebrews 1:1-6 John
1:1-5, 9-14
2nd
reading from Hebrews
Brothers
and sisters: In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways
through the prophets. In these last days
He has spoken to us through his Son whom He has made heir of all things and
through whom He first created the universe. This Son is the reflection of God’s
glory. He is the exact likeness of the Father’s being. He sustains all things
by his powerful word. When He had cleansed us from our sins, He took his seat
at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. The Son was made greater than all
the angels, just as the name which God gave Him is greater than theirs. For God
never said to any of his angels, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” (Ps
2:7) Or again, “I will be his Father, and He shall be my Son.” (2 Sam 7:14) And again, when He leads his
firstborn into the world He says, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.”(Heb.
1-6)
The word
of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia,
alleluia.
A reading
from the holy Gospel according to John
Glory
to you, Lord.
The
Prologue of St. John
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through Him,
and without Him nothing came to be. What came to be through Him was life, and
this life was the light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light, which enlightens
everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to
be through Him, but the world did not know Him. He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept Him. But to those who did accept Him He gave
power to become children of
God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation
nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. And the Word became
flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the
Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
The 3
Masses of Christmas
Christmas
is the only day of the year which has three different Masses assigned it: Mass
at midnight, at dawn and during the day. The
gospel for the Mass during the day is the prologue from the gospel of St. John.
The traditional symbol for John the evangelist is that of an Eagle, because he
soars as an eagle, as he proclaims that “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh.” (Jn 1:1,
14)
Verbalism….
Because the Word of God has become flesh, the Word is now no
longer a word (or a flow of words). In the Incarnation the Word has now become
flesh and blood. The Word of God has now been fleshed out as an “infant wrapped
in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” (Lk 2: 12) The soaring Eagle’s
profound prologue lays an axe to verbalism.
Verbalism is many things. For one thing, it’s the tendency especially of preachers
to speak with a flow of fleshless words which carry no tasty meaning for God’s hungry
people sitting in the Sunday pews. Verbalism
is also a tendency, especially again on the part of preachers, to put too much
stock in words. It’s making people live and die by words, as the Inquisitors
did when they burned St. Joan d’Arc at the stake for not having the right words
to their tricky theological questions.
Verbalism is also the doctrinaire
approach to the complex issues of human life, such as human sexuality,
celibacy, ordination, homosexuality, capital punishment, etc. Verbalism assumes
that the solutions to these complex issues of human life lay solely in the
words of our mouths, instead of also in something down deep in our hearts.
Verbalism as a doctrinaire approach also assumes that preaching the gospel
means speaking words; Mother Teresa of Calcutta preached the gospel all her
life, and really never spoke a word!
Less remarkable but still annoying to many, verbalism is filling Sunday liturgy with a steady flow of words -- with three scripture readings, a responsorial psalm, a Gloria, a Credo, an Agnus Dei, an Our Father, and then announcements at the end of Mass. The flow of words might satisfy our need to always be doing something, but it drowns out our inner need for Quaker silence in which the voice of God can be heard.
The Word of God says, "I was a stranger, and you took me into your home." (Mt. 25:35) It also says that "Tax collectors and prostitutes are preceding the chief priests and Jewish elders into the Kingdom of God." (Mt. 21:31) Again, the Word of God says, "There is no greater love then this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." (JN 15:13) That Word became flesh in Fr. Mychal Judge.
The Word became
flesh in CEO Aaron Feuerstein
Aaron Feuerstein was CEO and owner of
Malden Mills,
a fabric factory in Methuen, Massachusetts. He was also a devout Jew who read
Shakespeare and the Talmud (a rich treasury of rabbinical tradition ). On the night of Dec. 11, 1995 (six days
before the beginning of Hanukah that year) a surprise party was held for
Aaron’s seventieth birthday. During the party a
boiler exploded and a devastating fire broke out which demolished a good part
of his factory.
Feuerstein didn’t
grab the insurance money and run, as a sharp man of business would do. Instead,
the morning after the fire he assured all his 2400 employees that with God's
help they would all get through that tragedy together. Then he gave them their
pay-checks plus a $275 Christmas bonus and a $20 food coupon. Three days later
on the night of Dec. 14, in the gym of the Catholic High School where 1000 of
his employees gathered to learn their fate, he made a startling announcement:
For
the next 30 days, and it might be more, all our employees will be paid their
full salaries. I think you already have been advised that your health insurance
has been paid for the next 90 days. But over and above the money, the most
important thing Malden Mills can do for our workers is to get you all back to work. By January 2, 1996 , we will restart operations, and within 90
days, God willing, we will be 100 percent operational.
The Word of God (which Feuerstein quated to explain his 'fiscan insanity' tells us, "Oh man, this is what the Lord God wants from you: that you should act justly, with loving-kindness, and walk humbly with thy God." (Micah:6-8) That Word of God became flesh in Aaron Feuertein.
The Word
became flesh in Fr. Zawada
Fr. Jerry Zawada, like Fr. Mychal
Judge, is a Franciscan friar. He is a member of the Assumption of BVM Province,
Franklin, Wisconsin. He is now facing expulsion from his Order and
excommunication from the Church, because on November 19, 2011, he joined with
Rev. Janice Sevre-Duszynska (an ordained woman-priest) in celebrating Mass in
Columbus, Georgia. Many were gathered there for the annual meeting sponsored by
School of Americas Watch (SOAW)—an
organization founded by Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois and
a small group of supporters. Its purpose is to watch over a military academy called the School of Americas (SOA). The
academy is a creation of the United States Department of Defense and is located at Fort Benning near
Columbus, Georgia. The SOA has a reputation for training Latin American
dictators and their militaries in various techniques to squash dissidence in
their countries. Every November the SOAW holds a vigil at Fort Benning to protest the murder, rape and torture committed by
some graduates of the academy or under their leadership. (Fr. Zawada has served time in a federal prison for previous
actions with the SOAW.)
Zawada told friends that he openly
joined Rev. Janice Sevre-Duszynska in celebrating Mass as a matter of
conscience for him. Within days Church authorities in
Rome heard about the liturgy, and Fr. Zawada was told by his American superiors
that he now faces excommunication and expulsion from the Order, for joining in a
liturgy with a woman priest. Father Jerry has been a member of the Franciscan
Order for 56 years and a priest for 47 years! When asked what he thinks his
friends should do about his situation, he says he does not feel comfortable
telling people what to do. Instead, he encourages everyone to follow his own
conscience, and to keep him in their thoughts and prayers, as he faces the
future.
The Word of God says, "When they bring you to trial, do not worry about what you are going to say or how you will say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you will say. For the words you speak will not be yours; they will come from the Spirit of your Father speaking in you." (Mt. 10:19-20) That Word has become flesh in Fr. Zawada.
Conclusion
Great Christmas people
Christmas
isn’t the time for Christians to be preaching truth. That simply tends to put
the followers of the Prince of Peace at odds with Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and
anyone else who has a religious truth other than the Christian truth. Christmas
isn’t even the time to be preaching morality. That tends to fill us with
Pharisaic self-righteousness which gives thanks to God for not being sinners like
the rest of men. Christmas is the time to do what Christmas does best: tell stories -- wonderful stories about people like Fr. Mychal Judge, Jewish CEO Aaron Feuerstein and Fr. Jerry Zawada. They were not great preachers of truth or morality. They were first and foremost great Christmas people, as in their persons they gave flesh to the Word of God. And they inspire us to do the same.
