Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent and it is here we begin to see the focus of the Nativity of Our Lord. Here we see the powerful words of Elizabeth to Mary about St. John leaping in her womb. She is excited and filled with Joy. She is humbled by this moment. Mary too is filled with joy. Now, let me throw in something that might challenge some people at this moment.
Often, people think of Christmas as a childrens’ time. They often focus on children and their celebration of Christmas as they remember their own. However, what if we turned this away from children and looked at this moment as one of revolution against evil forces that oppress us.
Remember, the time. First, we are looking at the beginning of the culmination of centuries of prophesy that proclaim that there will be a time when all the world will worship the God of the Jews in Jerusalem. Second, we see that Jerusalem and all of Judah are occupied by the Roman forces who promote freedom of religion, but that will eventually deteriorate into praise of the godlike emperor.
Indeed, seven years after the death and resurrection of Jesus,the emperor Caligula will take his narcissistic claims of divinity into the empire and virtually run it aground.
The Jews, then and now are familiar with oppression, but they are also familiar with God’s discipline for their sins. They look forward to knowing and worshiping God freely and truly.
This moment is part of that beginning.
What is happening now is the beginning of that moment in which the forces of evil will be revealed and the forces of Good will reveal them. It begins here when Mary proclaims that she proclaims greatness of God who will bring forth His kingdom and destroy those who seek to silence and eliminate it. That process continues by the way.
Jesus’ arrival is not a time to celebrate it like we were in a certain theme park in Florida, but to see that this is the proclamation of the source of truth that will overcome evil. It is the beginning of a time when we will have to choose between one or the other and join either the kingdom of truth and the dying away kingdom of evil.
Christmas is not a child’s thing, it is a proclamation of our freedom and a demand that we accept or reject the proclamation. This is not a dictator’s proposal, but a doctor’s. If you want to live, this is what you have to do and you will live for a long time. If you do not do this, your life is going to be short and painful, what do you choose, life or not.
Jesus came to give us this choice, which was not ours until this moment. It is a serious moment and a serious choice. We celebrate it or we mock it. We cannot do both.
This week is a good week to decide, what do we choose to do? Celebrate our freedom in Christ, or see Christmas as a time that belongs in Florida with parades, floats, funny characters waving to us but offers us nothing in the long run that leads us to freedom.
True freedom comes from celebrating that Christ came to give it to us by freeing us from those forces that will overcome it. We see evidence of those forces everytime we open up a newspaper. We have a choice everyday whether to succumb to those forces, or turn from the world and embrace Christ who leads us where the world cannot to total freedom.
God bless you,
Fr. Robert J Carr
Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor of Holy Trinity Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. He is the author of several books, blogs and hundreds of videos all of which you may find on Youtube. You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr and on Google plus as+FrRobertCarr. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook