Christmas Eve Is A Beautiful Night. What Does Christmas Mean To Us?
After the long preparation and waiting that we experience in Advent, we have finally arrived at the Christmas Vigil Mass. This evening we gather together as one community and one Church to celebrate the moment of the great appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, when He was born of His Mother Mary in Bethlehem, the city of David more than two millennia ago.
Tonight is the most beautiful night because light and hope are restored to all of us who live in a world full of darkness and sin. This is the night when the long-awaited salvation finally comes, when God reveals before us His greatest and eternal love, when He shows His love for us which is embodied in the flesh, in Christ Jesus, the Son of Man and the Son of Man. God, the Divine Word incarnate, is fully God and fully human. Through Him, God's love becomes very real, and He becomes real, approachable and reachable to us.
The Lord reassured all His people when He told them of the coming time of renewal for Jerusalem and for the nations of the world. They will be renewed and enlightened, redeemed and made whole once again. These were words of hope, encouragement and love that meant a lot to the people who at that time were having problems with the nation's deteriorating fate. For in the time of the prophet Isaiah, Israel's old glory under King David and King Solomon had long since passed, their kingdom was divided and its northern part had been previously destroyed by the Assyrians.
For the people who were then beset by many problems and worries, persecuted and oppressed by their neighbors and for the believers who remained faithful to the faith in Allah despite the evils even many of them chose to leave God for various idols, said -the words spoken by God are a great comfort and encouragement, a gift of hope and new light that God is always with His people and He will send them His salvation as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah, which mentions how the Savior will be born of a Virgin .
It means that God will come and live among His people and deliver them from trouble and suffering. God will reveal to them the path to follow to eternal life and true happiness through Him. All this happened as prophesied to Mary, who had been prepared by God to be the Mother of God and Savior, marrying Saint Joseph, heir to King David. She gave birth from her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Son of the Most High God. The Savior who was born in Bethlehem was truly the Heir of David as the prophets prophesied.
Saint Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, talks about how God guides His people and how He promised King David His faithful servant that a Savior would come from among His descendants. In Bethlehem the past two millennia, which many have been waiting for a long time, waiting for salvation from God, finally paid off. Those who have long worked and waited in darkness have seen a great light, the Light of God's salvation and righteousness.
As we enter the Christmas season and begin the joyous celebration of Christmas, let us all ask ourselves, what is Christmas and what does it mean for all of us? What is the significance of Christmas and how will we celebrate Christmas with joy and with a proper understanding and appreciation of what it is all about. Otherwise, it would be very easy for us to lose focus and end up celebrating Christmas with a lot of excitement, but all the joy and celebration is superficial and meaningless.
We all know how commercially Christmas has become in recent years and decades. Christmas has become so commercial and secularized that many ignore its true meaning and purpose and instead of celebrating Christ and His coming into our world, the Love of God made flesh, we celebrate our own vain desires in self-indulgence and comfort. worldly. Instead of remembering how much we are loved by God and all that He has done for us and for our salvation, we are distracted by the many temptations of worldly glories and pleasures.
What does Christmas mean to us? It is time for us to celebrate and remember the most beautiful love of God, which was given to us so generously and unconditionally. After we receive this great and extraordinary thing, it is only natural that we show the same love to our fellow brothers and sisters, pass on the love that God has given us and remind ourselves that we are really lucky to be so loved by God and also by one another. each other. This is how we should celebrate Christmas with genuine love for God and for others and not for our own pride.
Let's also remember that there are many of our brothers and sisters out there who may not be able to celebrate Christmas the way we do. There are many out there who cannot celebrate Christmas because they are not even free to express themselves and their Christian faith, being persecuted every day for their faith. Also the poor and marginalized to be able to celebrate Christmas in a way that many of us are familiar with. Many of our brothers and sisters even struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis and struggle to have enough food to sustain themselves each day.
So let us make our Christmas celebrations tonight and beyond to be more meaningful by refocusing our celebrations on Christ and not on ourselves. Let us all moderate our celebrations and festivities and not forget all the others who may not be as fortunate as us in being able to celebrate the coming of the Lord. And if we are able, let us share our joy and love with them, so that they too can experience the true joy of Christmas.
May our Lord and Savior who was born and whom we celebrate in the joy of this Christmas, be with us and bless our Christmas celebration so that it is fruitful and healthy. May God empower each of us with His love and with the hope He brings to our midst so that we become His beacon of light and hope in our daily lives. May we all have the most blessed Christmas.
