Christmas Homily

I was all set to hear our pastor expound upon Our Lady's "fiat" this weekend.  Imagine my surprise when he instead focused on the first two readings instead!  Ha ha ha.

It's okay, though, because he made some great points that I simply hadn't thought about and tied it nicely into Our Lady's "fiat."

He started by explaining that while David wanted to build a great temple to house God because he was ashamed of his own opulence while the Ark rested beneath a tent, David missed a huge lesson - God wills everything.

God handed victory to the Israelites.  God gave David the wealth he enjoyed.  God gave David the talent, wisdom and patience necessary to lead His people.  God also provided David with the home he found himself in - a far cry from the fields of his youth.

So while David's gesture was from the heart, he missed out on the fact that God was already fully present in EVERYTHING.  Sure the Ark was an extremely prominent sign of God's presence, but that didn't mean He wasn't everywhere else as well.  A temple (or in our case, a Church) cannot contain the infinite.  Sure, God is present with us in a wholly unique way through the Eucharist, but He is also present within each one of us.

In fact, the Blessed Mother was, in truth, THE Temple of God.  When the angel came down and greeted her with "Hail Mary, full of grace" he was acknowledging that her soul was a complete refuge for God's love.  Upon her "fiat" Gabriel no doubt knelt down in adoration as the Incarnation of Christ illuminated her soul. 

We each contain the light of Christ within us.  It's up to us to acknowledge it and share it with others - which our pastor smartly tied into the "Merry Christmas" message.  He chided us for using "Happy Holidays" and reminded us of our duty to SHARE Christ with others... not hide Him away for use only in Church or when we think we need Him.  God is with us always because He WANTS to be with us.  So let's not do Him the dishonor of ignoring Him during the time of His greatest gift to us... His Birth into Humanity - the trumpeting call for Salvation.

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