Homily by Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna
At this first Gospel of the feast of Christmas, of this great Solemnity, the Gospel of Matthew announces the name of the child whose birth will answer the phrase, and he gives us two names. The angel tells Joseph, “You will name him Jesus” and “He will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). And then Matthew remembers the prophecy of Isaiah, “Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel” (Mt 1:23). Jesus and Emmanuel. The name Jesus in Aramaic, which the Holy Family would use ‘Yeshua’. Matthew actually explains what the name means to us. The Lord says, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. He will do what his name says. He will be Jesus, the Lord saves.
But how would he do that? The second name does not mention his mission, but the method of his mission. God with us. This is how the Lord saves us, by becoming one of us, dealing with us, accompanying us on this pilgrimage, being for us a source of comfort, of wisdom, of light, of peace, and of mercy.
As we celebrate the birth of a baby, this Holy Night, let us feel the warmth of the divine embrace. The Lord wants to embrace each and every one of us with his mercy. It means He becomes man to be with us, to save us, by being one of us. And this for us becomes also a mission, that we may be truly present one to another. There is no greater gift than that of loving each other and being present to each other’s lives with warmth, with truth, with compassion, with mercy. As we imitate the way the Lord has treated us, let us learn how to treat each other.
Let us not only feel the Lord’s embrace, but also become an embrace of peace and solidarity for all humanity.
And as we become more addicted to our smartphones and our computers, let us rise away from them, and let us look in each other’s eyes, and meet each other as human beings, not as algorithms. We need technology to connect, not to elevate us from one another. And so we pray on this Holy Night, let us not only feel the Lord’s embrace, but also become an embrace of peace and solidarity for all humanity. A Blessed Christmas to you all.
As we pray the Creed, and we remember the moment when God became man, flesh, we kneel to adore this great mystery of God becoming one of us.
✠ Charles Jude Scicluna
Archbishop of Malta
Mass Readings
Reading I: Is 62, 1-5
Psalm: 88 (89), 4-5,16-17,27,29
Reading II: Acts 13,16-17,22-25
Gospel: Mt 1:1-25
