Author: olacatholic416

“He Did Not Leave“

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

December 24 – 25, 2023

Gospel: John 1:1-18

 I thought we would have a bit of scriptural study today.  Joseph “had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus” (Matthew 1:25).  You might think, “Joseph could have had relations with her afterward.”  But you are presuming facts not in evidence.   Just because it didn’t happen before the birth doesn’t mean it happened afterward.  You are reading into scripture to prove a point. 

What is love?  Love is our Savior in the manger.  It is also our Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle.  But the greatest act of love happened on the Cross.  These are the three greatest acts of love by God.  About Christmas Day, Bishop Sheen said, “On this day, a man no longer has to look up to Heaven to see God.  He can look down at the manger to see Him.”  The Wise Men and shepherds came so that they could look down at God.   You could today, and every day you come to church, replace their faces with a picture of yours because you come here to be in the presence of God Himself. 

Now, you keen observers in the parish may have noticed that we have new figurines for our crèche (manger scene).  The idea of a crèche was created by Saint Francis over 800 years ago.  Here’s a fun thing you can do when you see non-Catholics with a crèche.   You can say, “Oh, I see that you are Catholic.”  “I’m not Catholic!”  “Well, that’s a Catholic symbol.  Saint Francis of Assisi is the guy who came up with the idea.  You know – the guy who liked birds.”  Oops!  So, what is a crèche?  It is visible scripture. When Saint Francis came up with the idea, many people couldn’t read but they could see.  In our creche, we have beautiful, hand-carved wood figurines.  Notice that everyone has their attention on the Savior.  A short distance away, we have the three Wise Men.   They aren’t at the manger yet but will finally arrive in a few weeks to see the infant Jesus.  Have you ever noticed that a lot of people are late for church?  

Who do you find around our Lord whether it’s at the manger or the foot of the Cross?  You find the very holy – the Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph.  You also find those who know that they don’t know anything.   The Wise Men were very educated and had achieved the fruits of their education.  What are the fruits of an education?  You discover that you don’t know everything.  The Wise Men had learned that.  The shepherds already knew that they knew nothing.  Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been in pastures walking around sheep dung in the middle of a Palestinian night.  I’ve been there, and it is very, very cold.  You don’t want to be out there.  It’s 40 degrees, but when the temperature drops from 80 to 40 in a couple of hours, you freeze.  So that’s who you will always find around our Lord.  And when you come here to be with our Lord, you have a choice of which to be…educated or uneducated.  But either way, we come to adore our good Lord.

Christ is coming into the world and made manifest to us all.  But Christ has never left the world.  “Father, didn’t He ascend to Heaven?”   Well, His human nature which He took from the Blessed Mother and with which He taught, healed, suffered, and rose from the dead went to Heaven.  But He has always been in the world.  He is there in the Blessed Sacrament.  His divine nature in the form of consecrated bread and wine is in the Tabernacle.  He did not leave.

At Christmas, Jesus is made manifest to the world in human form.  He was already in the world nine months before that in the womb of His mother.  Now He is made manifest to the world so that all can come see the beginning of the greatest gift of all.  This is the beginning and not the end.  That comes 33 years later which shows the fullness of His love.   I am sure that I will be meditating today on all the gifts my parents gave me.  I’ll meditate about their love, patience, and all the wonderful things they did as parents by God’s grace.  This may be why I became a priest. 

Catholics can celebrate Christmas all year long.  Every day is your Christmas.  Every day you are the shepherds and the Wise Men who came to be in the presence of our Lord.  When you are here, you take their place.  Our Lord shows the greatness of His love, not by taking a human nature upon Himself, but by suffering at the hands of His own creatures and being put to death by His own ungrateful creatures on the Cross.  Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clopas, Saint John, and the Blessed Mother stood at the foot of the Cross.  You take their place at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by being with Christ during the Mass.  As they were there during His original suffering which is always before the Father and made present during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, you take their place.  So, when you come to Mass, when you come into the presence of our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, you are a part of that. 

God is with us and not just in the spiritual sense.  He is physically here.  But it was not enough for Him to come into the world; what He wants most is to come into our souls.   We can experience His incarnation.  Today, if you catch me in a good mood, I’ll hear your confession so that Christ can come into your soul and remove your sins.  By the way, I’m running a 3 Hail Mary Special from now until New Year’s Day. 

I hope you all have a crèche at home.  If not, we have them in the bookstore.  Put your family’s faces over the faces of the shepherds and Wise Men.  That’s what we are called to be and what we will be in Heaven.  

Father’s Reflections . . . I was thinking back on the Christmases that I’ve enjoyed.  Some of those overseas, I wouldn’t want to repeat, but that’s the roll of the dice you take.  The gift of love that was given is still unfolding.  I’m still a young man – Hah! –  and I’m still working to understand the gifts of love that were given.  They all have a deeper meaning, not only on a human level that includes your family and friends but also on a spiritual level. 

“Father, we should have a Mass at dawn.”  Really?  I want to see the guy who can get up to do the Mass at dawn after doing the Vigil Mass at 5 p.m. and then the Midnight Mass.  That ain’t me.  I’m getting too old for that.  We have priests in the diocese who are in their 80’s, and I don’t see them celebrating Masses at midnight.  My days are getting shorter on that too.  But like any real man, my mind writes checks my body can’t cash.  I still think I’m 18 with a big red “S” on my chest and able to bend steel with my bare hands.  Uh no. 

How will you apply this message to your life?  ________________________________________

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to AnnunciationCatholicAlbemarle.com and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” then “Sermon Notes.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at ola.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

---