When we think of Christmas as a celebration, we often think of it as a birthday celebration. And it certainly is. We celebrate the birth of Jesus in the flesh in Bethlehem. Some families have even gone so far as to have birthday cake on Christmas, or to sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus at the family Christmas.
But we can also think about Christmas as a wedding. Our church takes on some of the appearance of a wedding. At wedding, the church often is decorated with lots of flowers, like the poinsettias that we have here. Often times you’ll have more candles lit at a wedding. At wedding Masses we sing the Gloria, the song of the angels in heaven when Jesus was born. And people dress up for weddings, like so many of you are dressed up today.
But the wedding that we celebrate is not between a man and wife, but between heaven and earth, between divinity and humanity, between God and man. At Christmas heaven descends to earth as Jesus is born. At Christmas we come to know of the union, never to be broken or divorced, between divinity and humanity in the Person of Jesus. At Christmas, the angels make known the birth of the God-man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and son of Mary.
The Prophet Isaiah himself uses the image of a wedding:
No more shall people call you “Forsaken,” or your land, “Desolate,” but you shall be called “My Delight,” and your land, “Espoused.” For the Lord delights in you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.
God is our Builder and marries our humanity in Jesus. God is our bridegroom and we, His people, are His bride. No longer are we weighed down by our past sinfulness; no longer are we forsaken or desolate. But we are the delight of the Lord, and espoused to Him.
We were not a bride that was desirable, because of our unfaithfulness. We had been engaged or betrothed to God through Abraham, when God chose to make us His People. But time and time again, we were unfaithful to God and wandered away from Him. We were burdened by the yoke of slavery to sin, and Satan was our taskmaster. But when Jesus Christ was born, He, the only one by whom we are saved, took us back to Himself and freed us from our bondage. Jesus is truly “a savior…born for [us]” who heals us from our ancient wound of sin and gives us the freedom of the children of God.
This is Good News! This is the wedding announcement that should make all of us rejoice and be glad on this holy night/day. For “The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations;” “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.” “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son.” God has finally wedded us in Christ, and He will always stay faithful to His marriage vows, even when we stray and are unfaithful.
And this Good News is renewed for us each time we come to Mass. In every Mass, it is as if Jesus is born again, as the bread and wine presented by you become the Body and Blood of Jesus. Especially on Sunday Masses, we almost always sing the hymn of the angels, the Gloria, as Christ is born in our hearing of the Word of God, and in the confection of the Eucharist. Heaven is joined to earth, with all the angels and saints, who worship God the Father through Christ the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit.
But think about a wedding, and think about how you respond to that joyful news. My sister, Allison, was married this past March, and my sister, Amanda, celebrates her 11th Anniversary on 27 December. People were so happy and shared the news to those they met, in person and over social media. Weddings are reasons for celebration and sharing that joy with others. And so is the wedding of heaven and earth, divinity and humanity, God and man. Isaiah encourages us: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation.” Will we keep this good news of this special wedding to ourselves? Will we keep the lamp of joy under a bushel basket of fear? Or will we join with the angels and shepherds in proclaiming to the ends of the earth the wedding which brings salvation to all those who have sat in the shadow of death? The wedding is certainly good news. And “Blessed are those called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”
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| My brother-in-law, Tom, with my sister, Allison |