The Nativity of the Lord (Mass during the Day) / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Church presents four separate liturgical celebrations for Christmas, the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord. The first celebration is a Vigil Mass celebrated the evening before Christmas. The second is for Mass during the night, traditionally at midnight. The third is for Masses celebrated at dawn on Christmas. And the fourth is for Masses occurring later on Christmas Day.
For the Masses during the day, the Church first provides a reading from Isaiah 52. It is from the third section of the Book of Isaiah and was composed when Hebrew hearts could not have been heavier. Disgust and despair filled the air. The times, in every respect, were wretched. No end seemed to be in sight.
The prophet told the people that if they obeyed the law, in keeping with their covenant with God, things would improve through their cooperation with God’s grace.
The second reading comes from the Epistle to the Hebrews. As implied, this epistle was meant for the Jews. It places Jesus at the center of God’s long-promised redemption of the world and triumph over sin and hopelessness.
Victory over the forces of evil is one way to look at it. Also seen in the coming of Jesus is proof of God’s unshaken and eternal love for everyone.
St. John’s Gospel furnishes the last reading. It is not a recollection of the birth of Jesus. Among the four Gospels, only Matthew and Luke directly report this event. John and Mark never refer to it, certainly not in the sense of giving details.
This reading, however, is most appropriate for Christmas. It describes who Jesus was and is. It defines the august and profound identity of Jesus. Life comes through the Lord. He is light in a world filled with utter darkness. No power can extinguish the light of Christ.
Jesus came into the world, bearing God’s mercy and enlightenment. God had promised salvation. The holy and just, such as St. John the Baptist, trusted in this promise.
The Lord came as a human. This is why Mary always has been so important to Christians. As the mother of Jesus, the only earthly parent, Jesus received human nature from her.
His humanity is the glory of and the key to the wonder of salvation.
Reflection
The Gospels give no specific time of the day for the actual birth of Jesus, but Christians long have assumed that the Lord was born during the night because, in St. Luke’s Gospel, angels informed the shepherds of the birth while the shepherds were watching their sheep during the night.
Taking this imagery, the Mass during the day on Christmas takes place in the sunshine, proclaiming that Jesus is “the light of the human race, shining in the darkness” (Jn 1:4-5). Truer words were never spoken, for civilization or for each person.
The birth of Jesus bettered human life forever. His teachings are the ideals which have enriched untold millions, past and present. He affected human life infinitely more than has anyone else.
To look at the new day more personally, ask if the coming of Christ has brightened your life. How has it brightened the path ahead of you? Has it warmed your heart? Do I more clearly see my needs and the needy around me?
Do you rise to the new day with vigor and with firm intention to fill your heart and your world with the warmth of the Lord’s love?
Perhaps the preceding night was dark with doubt and hurt. The brilliant sunbeams of life in Christ clarify everything, heal everything. Perhaps anger filled the night. The warm sunshine of Christ calms and soothes. Perhaps want and fear of want tormented the night. The Lord’s mercy abundantly provides all that truly matters, sense of purpose, peace of heart, hope and true joy. †