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Christmas
Sacred Scriptures
Vigil

Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 89
Acts 13:16-17, 22-25
Matthew 1:1-25
Midnight

Isaiah 9:1-6
Psalm 96
Titus 2: 11-14
Luke 2:1-14		 Dawn

Isaiah 62:11-12
Psalm 97
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:15-20
Daytime

Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18
"Glory to God in the Highest, and peace to his people on earth!"
Merry Chirstmas!  God is with us!  Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior into time.  We rejoice that when all seemed lost for the human family, God's Divine Love became like us in all things.  The Father, through Jesus, shares our humanity.  Jesus shares the joys and struggles of living.  Jesus restores all of creation; and in the birth of Christ, we can hear the words of the Father resounding as they did from the beginning of Creation:  "YOU ARE SO GOOD!" (cf. Genesis)

The message of Christmas is hope.  In Christ Jesus, we do not have to strive to be God.  God is one of us and with us.  Jesus invites us - Jesus calls us - to live a life that is human.  He shows us that we are good.  In his Spirit, we have the grace and power to bring forth on earth the Kingdom of God where all systems which oppress, all forces that dehumanize, and all powers that suppress goodness and peace are no more.

The irony found in the Christmas story is the presence of fear.  The father of John the Baptist was afraid when he learned that his wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to a son in her old age.  Mary was afraid when it was revealed to her that God was inviting her to be the mother of the Redeemer.  The Shepherds were afraid when the angels of God announced the presence of the Savior in Bethlehem.  Perhpas even as we gather at the Eucharist on this most holy night and with our families and friends to celebrate, we too are afraid?

The presence of Christ - Emmanuel, God with us - is a challenge.  It is God showing us that though we are human and imperfect, we are of great worth in the sight of God.  God loves us.  God's Divine Love impels us to bring that love to others.  We are called to be ministers of the Incarnation.  As we bring the love of the living Christ to others in daily life, we give birth to Christ.  We who have received the Light of Christ in Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, are entrusted with the mission to keep that Light shining in the darkness.

We celebrate hope.  We celebrate salvation.  We celebrate the loving relationship that our God intimately shares with us in Jesus Christ.  We even celebrate the fear of the vocation that Christ's birth beckons us to respond to even to this day because we can be confident that through the joys and challenges and all that living our vocations brings, GOD IS WITH US!

Shaun Lowery
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