A Christmas sermon by St. Augustine reflecting on the mystery of Jesus Christ, human and divine:
The Word of God, maker of time, becoming flesh was born in time. Born today, he made all days. Ageless with the Father, born of a mother, he began counting his years. Man’s maker became man; the ruler of the stars sucked at a mother’s breasts, Bread hungered, the Fountain thirsted, the way was wearied by the journey, the truth was accused by false witnesses, the life slept in death, the judge of the living and the dead was judged by a human judge, justice was condemned by injustice, the righteous was beaten by whips, the cluster of grapes was crowned with thorns, the upholder of all hung from a tree, strength became weak, health was stricken with wounds, life died. He humbled himself that we might be raised up. He suffered evil that we might receive good, Son of God before all days, son of man these last days, from the mother he made, from the woman who would never be, unless he made her. (Augustine, Sermon 191, 1; PL 38, 1010)
The Feast of John the Apostle, like the feasts of Stephen and the Holy Innocents, immediately follows the birth of Jesus. The feasts help us understand the mystery of his Incarnation.
John’s Gospel is the earliest gospel read on the Christmas feast, answering the great question: Who is this Child? The Child is the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
John was one of the first disciples whom Jesus called. He knew Jesus from his early years in Nazareth; he knew his family; he accompanied Jesus on his ministry in Galilee and on his journey to Jerusalem. John saw him transfigured in glory on the mountain. he sat beside him at the Last Supper; he went into the Garden of Gethsemane with him, then he stood beside his cross with Mary, his mother. Jesus gave Mary into his care.
The gospel reading for his feast reminds us that John was a key witness to the resurrection of Jesus. At the empty tomb he recognized Jesus risen from the dead. “‘It is the Lord,’ he said to Peter”. At the Lake of Galilee he again recognized the Risen Christ.. (John 21, 7) John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” knew Jesus, human and divine.
The 1st Letter of John is our lectionary reading during the Christmas season. It tells us to know Jesus Christ through his humanity, just as the apostles did. The One we know in his humanity is also the Word of God, who is God.
“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life —for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you.” 1 John 1-4
The feast of John the Apostle is a feast for exploring the mystery of the Incarnation.
God, our Father, you have revealed the mysteries of your Word through John the apostle. By prayer and reflection may we come to understand the wisdom he taught. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever.
We follow Christmas Day with the feasts of St. Stephen and St. John. The two saints seem to interrupt the Christmas narrative, but actually they help us understand the Christmas mystery.
The martyr Stephen, whose death St. Luke describes in the 6th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, faithfully followed Jesus into the mystery of his death and resurrection. He is the first of many faithful followers to come, imitating Jesus, the Savior, who prayed and gave his life to save his people from their sins. Stephen points to the destiny of the Child born of Mary.
St. Fulgentius explains his place in the Christmas mystery:
“Yesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal King. Today we celebrate the triumphant suffering of his soldier. Yesterday our king, clothed in his robe of flesh, left his place in the virgin’s womb and graciously visited the world. Today his soldier leaves the tabernacle of his body and goes triumphantly to heaven.
” Our king, despite his exalted majesty, came in humility for our sake; yet he did not come empty-handed. He brought his soldiers a great gift that not only enriched them but also made them unconquerable in battle, for it was the gift of love, which was to bring men to share in his divinity. He gave of his bounty, yet without any loss to himself. In a marvellous way he changed into wealth the poverty of his faithful followers while remaining in full possession of his own inexhaustible riches.
“And so the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven; shown first in the king, it later shone forth in his soldier. Love was Stephen’s weapon by which he gained every battle, and so won the crown signified by his name. His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious mob; his love for his neighbour made him pray for those who were stoning him. Love inspired him to reprove those who erred, to make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save them from punishment. Strengthened by the power of his love, he overcame the raging cruelty of Saul and won his persecutor on earth as his companion in heaven.
( St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, on the Feast of St. Stephen)
The Feast of Stephen and other martyrs were listed after the Feast of Christmas in the Roman calendar of 336, the earliest calendar mentioning the Christmas feast. The first feast days celebrated by the church were Sundays and Easter. Then, the feasts of martyrs, like Stephen, appear; then the Christmas feast was introduced.
The martyrs offer and important dimension to the Christmas feast. They tell us that the Messiah came to take on the burden of a suffering world. He would experience the mystery of the Cross. Martys, like Stephen and the Holy Innocents, witness to him.
In the Church of San Stephano Rotondo in Rome, pictures of the death of Jesus and Stephen are placed side by side. The church also honors martyrs like Stephen in paintings on its walls.
We usually think of Mary, the mother of Jesus, apostles like Peter and Paul, or extraordinary individuals like Mother Teresa when we think of saints. True friends of God.
Besides them, the Feast of Saints reminds us of unnumbered others in God’s company. In a vision of heaven, St. John saw “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” {Revelations 7, 9-13} We hope we will join them one day.
Our hope rests on a promise Jesus made:
“See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are…
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.” (1 John 3,1-3)
How shall we reach that place where we’ll be revealed as children of God? Jesus says to follow him and live as he taught. He shows the way in his Sermon on the Mount, our gospel reading for this feast. He will be the way, the truth and the life.
We haven’t seen yet that promised life. We haven’t completed our lives here yet. This feast reminds us of the hope God reveals.
Extraordinary saints are not the only ones in heaven. There is a multitude of others, not a few. God welcomes countless others, saints unnoticed here on earth, saints with little to show, saints who were sinners. People like us.
Celebrating this feast, remember your destiny, St. Bernard says:
“Rise again with Christ and seek the world above and set your mind on heaven. Long for those who are longing for us; hasten to those who are waiting for us, ask those who are looking for our coming to intercede for us. Desire their company and seek a share in their glory. There’s no harm in being ambitious for this. No danger in setting your heart on such glory.
“Remembering the saints inflames us with a yearning that Christ our life may appear to us as he appeared to them and that one day we may share in his glory.”
Years ago I wrote a book on the lives of the saints honored in our church calendar. Saints like Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the apostles, the martyrs, founders of great religious orders, men and women recognized for their great holiness.
It was a hard book to write and I’ve never felt satisfied with it. My dissatisfaction isn’t just from not capturing their lives as well as I would have liked. I think it’s because we can’t capture what the saints experience at all.
A saint is someone who enjoys a completed life, a life we haven’t seen yet, a life we hope for. “We feebly struggle while they in glory shine.” We can never capture the final steps of their story.
The letter of St. John we read today on the Feast of All Saints tells us that. We haven’t seen yet what God intends us to be. We haven’t completed our lives yet; we complete our lives when we join the company of the saints.
“See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are…
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.”
The saints we honor in our calendar led extraordinary lives; they were shining examples of faith, hope and love and changed the world they lived in. What’s interesting about today’s feast of All Saints is its promise that they’re not the only ones in heaven. There are unnumbered saints in God’s company, saints who lived obscurely, without any sign of the extraordinary.
People like us.
I like St. Bernard’s advice about saint-watching in today’s Office of Readings:
“We must rise again with Christ, we must seek the world which is above and set our mind on the things of heaven. Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us. We should not only want to be with the saints, we should also hope to possess their happiness. While we desire to be in their company, we must also earnestly seek to share in their glory. Do not imagine that there is anything harmful in such an ambition as this; there is no danger in setting our hearts on such glory.
When we commemorate the saints we are inflamed with another yearning: that Christ our life may also appear to us as he appeared to them and that we may one day share in his glory.”
The Victor's Place 