by Fr Dabulamanzi Ntshangase
Christmas: Mass during the day
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christmas. The prologue to the Gospel of John, today’s gospel reading, has two parts. The first part (1:1-11) speaks of the Word who is eternally present with God. He brings light and life to the world. Sadly, the world rejected the Word. However, in the second part (1:12-18) the response to Word seems to be positive. The word becomes one of us and lives among us. To those who accept him, he gives the power to become children of God. The Word is Jesus Christ. He is the Emmanuel, the God with us. He is the new born baby of whose birthday we celebrate today. It is my prayer that we do not reject him in our lives but rather welcome him to reign our hearts.
By the coming of Christ, a fire was lit in our world and in our lives. This is the fire that never dies. At this fire we experience warmth of God’s love ‘for He sent His only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16). We also experience the glow of human fellowship. It is true that we have commercialised Christmas but this should not blind us to the true meaning of Christmas. Christ has come to restore our broken relationship with God. The good food and drinks that we have prepared for this day should not ruin the relationship we have with the Almighty but make us better children of God. A good relationship with God would mean a good relationship all our fellow human beings for ‘if anyone says that “I love God” and hate his brother, he is a liar’ (1 John 4:20). Let us not, therefore, be afraid to come out of the cold and darkness of sin at this Christmas and every day of our lives. Let us warm ourselves at this fire.