ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Monsignor Pashley,
Dear Parishioners of Saint Rose of Lima Parish,

It was just a week ago that some of us were together in the Cathedral Basilica for the "Bless the Baby Jesus" prayer service. I am very happy to be with you again now on Christmas Day as we reflect on God’s word and participate together in Christ’s Eucharistic Sacrifice.

In the midst of all the sufferings of the world, all the difficulties of the Church, and all of our own problems and those of our families, the word of God in our Christmas liturgy gives us a wonderful invitation. The invitation comes from Psalm 98 and is this: "Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wondrous deeds." The Psalm then goes on to tell us what a wondrous deed we are celebrating today: "The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God."

All of us are invited to sing and to praise God: "Sing joyfully to the Lord all you lands; break into song; sing praise." Yes, dear friends, we are celebrating Christmas Day. This means that we are celebrating our salvation, because we are celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

At the Midnight Mass last night the Church proclaimed the wonderful event of Jesus’ birth. The angel told the shepherds in Bethlehem: "Do not be afraid; for behold I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you who is Christ and Lord." Then the angel went on to tell the shepherds: "And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

This morning in this Parish of Saint Rose of Lima and in every church throughout the world we find this Child, lying in a manger, surrounded by the love of His Mother, Mary, and His foster father, Joseph.

Our hearts are filled with praise because in Christ Jesus, this little Child, God has indeed made His salvation known.

But who is this Child, who is this infant Jesus?

He is the one sent by God to bring salvation to the world. This is the reason He was born, the reason He is called Jesus because Jesus means "Savior." He has come to be our Savior—your Savior and mine, the Savior of the whole world.

He is the Son of the Virgin Mary. His foster or legal father is Joseph, who was a carpenter, but also a man who belonged to the royal line of King David. It is Joseph who ensures that the Child will be recognized legally as belonging to the family of David. Even though Joseph is only the foster father of Jesus, he is the husband of Mary and the head of the Holy Family. Joseph is the Guardian of his foster son, Jesus, who is the Savior, the Redeemer of the world, the light who has come into the world.

Who then is this Child? Who is His Father? This morning the Church answers this question clearly. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that God in past times spoke to the world through His prophets, but now He speaks to us through His Son. And the Letter to the Hebrews goes on to say that the Son is the reflection of the Father’s glory, the very imprint of the Father’s being. As the Son of the eternal Father, Jesus Christ, the Child born in Bethlehem, is true God. He is the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity. He has an eternal relationship to His Father. He is His Son, the one whom Saint John will speak of as both "Son" and "Word."

The Gospel of Saint John tells us clearly that "the Word was God." And then comes that wonderful revelation, that wonderful proclamation: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth."

Once again, who is this Child? He is the Son of God, the Word made flesh. He is true God! At the same time He is the Son of the Virgin Mary. He is true man! He is one of us. He shares our humanity, our human condition, our human weaknesses, all of them—except sin.

This is why the Church prays: Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man! And one of the great Fathers of the Church, Pope Saint Leo the Great, will explain that Jesus is consubstantial with His Father, and consubstantial with His Mother. In other words, Jesus is of the same substance, the same nature as His Father. He is divine. He is God. He is of the same substance, the same nature as His Mother. He is human. He is man.

Who is this Child? The one who, sharing divinity and humanity, links us to God. The one who is our Mediator. He is the one who takes on our humanity and gives us His divinity. The one who teaches us to be fully human and shows us how to live our human life. He is the one who lays down His human life to save us.

Who is this Child? He is our Savior. He is the one who challenges us to live according to His law, His beatitudes—in a word, His way of life.

Who is this Child? He is the one who reveals to us the love of God His Father. He is the one who in the tenderness of Bethlehem reveals to us the loving kindness and mercy of the God we cannot see.

Who is this Child? He is the God of love, the one who invites us to return His love. He is the one who commands us to love one another as He has loved us.

He is the one who in His weak humanity becomes for us the way to heaven. He is, in His own words: "the Way, the Truth and the Life." He is the Light of the world!

He is the one who calls us and invites us and commands us to love our brothers and sisters as much as He does, the one who took on our humanity as His own and the one who tells us to love and serve all those who share humanity with Him.

Jesus Christ is the Head of redeemed humanity. He is the one who has brought us God’s salvation.

Dear friends: All the ends of the earth have seen in Jesus Christ—the newborn Savior, the Child of Bethlehem, the Infant lying in a manger—the saving power of God.

And as Jesus saves us from our sins, He asks us to respond to His love, to observe His commandments, to follow His way of life, and to open our hearts in love and service to one another.

All this is part of our Christmas hymn of praise as we say: "Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Blessed be the Son of the eternal Father. Blessed be the Word made flesh. Blessed be the Son of the Virgin Mary. Blessed be our newborn Savior lying in a manger. Blessed be Jesus Christ forever!" Amen.