Christmas 2023 Mass at Night December 25, 2023

Father Rick’s Three-Minute Homily For Christmas 2023
Mass at Night December 25, 2023
Luke 2:1-14
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122523-Night.cfm

Did anyone drive down through Atlanta the last couple of days? How was the traffic? And how about all the people in Publix and the different retail shops? Without a doubt, these times can be hectic and even frustrating.

I was thinking about St. Joseph walking ahead of Mary on a donkey for five days and knocking at the door of the Inn and probably many other doors until he reached the end of the town. And each time, the door was shut on him and the mother with Child. It’s amazing how cold the hearts of people can be toward God.

Mary understood that Joseph did his best and wanted to comfort him. All it took was a little smile from her. Then she gave him a bigger smile when they both saw a cave with some animals and a feed trough. Little did they know that their newborn son was the Bread of Life, hungry, even then, to feed the people he would one day redeem with His Blood.

Our Savior, in time, would reflect on that feed trough and tell people, “I am the Bread of Life. My flesh is real food. My blood is real drink. Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).

Jesus understands that our human life is no life at all compared to His Life living in us all the moments of our lives through eating and drinking at this Table.

Many of his followers started walking away when they heard these words, and he turned to His disciples, whom He had known for three years, and said, “Will you too leave Me? Jesus wouldn’t risk losing everybody if He didn’t mean that the substance of bread and wine is changed into His Body and Blood at every celebrated Mass.

We know this is true for us as it was for the first Mass celebrated in the Upper Room because He told His disciples, “Do this in memory of Me.”

We haven’t forgotten it for over two thousand years; we still believe in it and celebrate it every day.

Mother Mary and Joseph were on a long journey to give birth to Jesus. Today is a day of great joy. Jesus comes to us just as he finds us in a non-threatening way as a baby in our arms. No wonder the angel told Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds not to be afraid of your God becoming flesh in Mary and the souls of his followers.

Embrace the humility of Jesus, my friends, as you approach Him just as you are. And know that you will always be loved and befriended whenever you come here to the Blessed Sacrament Church. Let’s promise to help each other on our journey of faith.

None of us are saints, and we all need his mercy. So, let’s pray for each other and give each other a sign of peace, the peace of Christmas.

Love Your Neighbor:
Please join me in praying for all baptized Catholics to be faithful to Jesus in the Holy Mass every weekend. Hail Mary, full of grace…
Mother Mary, “I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you, I always want to belong completely to Jesus.” The Surrender Novena – InHeartland. https://inheartland.com/pages/the-surrender-novena

Peace be with you.
Fr. Rick Pilger, I.C.
pastor

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