MEMBER SIGN IN
Not a member? Become one today!
         iBerkshires     Berkshire Chamber     Berkshire Community College     City of Pittsfield    
Search
Guest Column: Are you ready for Christmas?
By Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, Guest Column
07:03AM / Thursday, December 25, 2014
Print | Email  

Bishop Mitchell Rozanski

Homily for Christmas 2014 given by Bishop Mitchell Rozanski at the Cathedral of St. Michael in Springfield. The bishop was to celebrate two Masses on Wednesday, one at 4 p.m. at St. Michael's, to be broadcast Christmas Day at 11 a.m. on WWLP, and at 10 p.m. St. Stanislaus Basilica Chicopee.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, are you ready for Christmas?  

How many times have we been asked that question over the past few weeks as the days from Thanksgiving to now have elapsed? This past September, I remember walking into a card shop and spotting the Christmas ornaments on display.   

My heart felt a bit sad that even before the leaves had turned to their autumn colors on the trees that Christmas was already being thrust upon us.  And yet, here we are, the time of celebration is here, whether we are ready or not.  

For these past four weeks, as a church, we have been asking ourselves "Are we ready for Christmas?" Our readings provided us with the great figures of Advent: Isaiah, the prophet of hope for God's people, Mary, in whose humility and trust we find her "yes" to God's invitation to become the mother of the Savior and John the Baptist, who stirred in his mother Elizabeth's womb at Mary's visitation, so near was the time of salvation.  

In their own way, each of these servants of God ask us if we are ready for Christmas.  We hear the poetic beauty of the first reading today from Isaiah. When God's people were mired in doubt and confusion during their exile, it is this hope-filled prophet who stirs their hearts with the promise of a time to come that will restore their relationship with God.

And their deliverance will not come from a mighty army, but from a child born into the world. The words of Isaiah may have made the people of his day incredulous at such a promise, but the prophet's words are spoken with surety in the mysterious workings of God.

Isaiah is the instrument of hope, trusting in God's promise to his people and assured that it would be fulfilled.  

Isaiah is one who is ready for Christmas! During the season of Advent, we have celebrated beautiful feasts of Mary. On Dec. 8, we recall her Immaculate Conception, when preserved from the sin of Adam and Eve, God chose her to be the spotless mother of His own divine Son. And on Dec. 12th, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas and Star of the New Evangelization.  

Mary's role in the history of salvation is assured when she accepts the words of the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation to become the mother of the Savior. Her life was changed forever in that instant when she fully put her trust in the will of God, allowing herself to become the vessel who bore the Savior into the world.

Humility and trust are great signs of Mary, who was ready to do the unexpected for God and His people at a moment's notice. And how touching is this Christmas story, when Mary, with Joseph, are uprooted during the time she is expected to give birth, not even knowing where her baby will be born. We can only imagine the thoughts that were going through her mind as she rejoiced at the birth of Jesus, yet having no place to give her child a decent bed.

Yet, despite all of this, Mary was ready for Christmas, for she, with Joseph, the shepherds and the angels, welcomed Jesus into our world.

The fiery prophet John the Baptist spoke to God's people in ways that truly pierced those who were willing to listen to his words. When asked who he was, John's answer is pointedly on target: "I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord."

John's call was to a spirit of repentance, of preparing hearts for the coming of the Savior. He did not yield to the temptation of being the Savior to the crowds, nor did he claim any credit for his mission and preaching. John truly saw himself as the one who helped others recognize that the Kingdom of God was at hand and that they were called, not to stand by passively, but actively bring about the work of that Kingdom through repentance, conversion and love.  

"He must increase," John says, "and I must decrease."

What a humble man who knew what his role was to be in salvation history and to embrace it fully. John the Baptist also illustrates for the way to be ready for Christmas.

Are you ready for Christmas? The presents may be wrapped so beautifully, the dinner, cookies, cakes and pies may be so enticing for the feast and the house may be decorated just right in sparkling lights, tree and wreaths. But are you ready for Christmas? With Isaiah's message of hope, Mary's example of trust in God's will and John the Baptist's humility in pointing the way to the Savior, we are called to be ready for this wonderful feast.  

For whether the world was ready or not, God has become one with our human race.  

There may have been a census that caused Mary and Joseph to be far from home, no proper place readied for the birth of a child and no one of great position or ranking to welcome Him, yet Jesus has come to fulfill the hope of Isaiah, the trust of Mary and the humilityof John the Baptist.  

And whether we are ready or not, he has come to us to do the same. Let us rejoice that Christmas does not so much depend on whether we are ready or not, but that God is always ready to reach out to us in Love, from the Baby whose birth we celebrate today, through our loved ones who will gather to share this feast with us and even in the stranger whom we are called to greet as our sister or brother in the Lord.

We may not always be prepared for Christmas, but thanks be to God that Christmas is always ready for us!

Comments
More Featured Stories
Pittsfield.com is owned and operated by: Boxcar Media 106 Main Sreet, P.O. Box 1787 North Adams, MA 01247 -- T. 413-663-3384
© 2008 Boxcar Media LLC - All rights reserved