Homily for the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), December 25, 2022

     Dear brothers and sisters, on this most holy day, I would like to invite you to reflect on what is displayed in the Nativity scene. Saint Luke tells us that the Blessed Virgin Mary “gave birth to her first-born son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger”. In the Nativity scene we see depicted that almighty God one day became a human being. God, who by nature is perfect and lacks nothing, came to this world to experience the limitations of our human existence. Saint Paul summarizes all of this with these three words: “God humbled himself”.

     The Nativity scene displays God’s humility. God wanted to be born, not in a palace with all the comfort of a prince, but in the simplicity and inconvenience of a manger. Saint Paul also tells us that the greatest display of God’s humility is given to us on the Lord’s death on the cross. The Lord’s death tells us the reason God became a human being: He became man in order to save us.

     After the sin of Adam and Eve, humanity needed a savior, needed someone who could redeem us from sin and death. A beautiful detail in the divine plan of salvation is that which caused our downfall, namely our lack of humility; and it is exactly what God used to bring about our redemption.

     In front of the Nativity scene this Christmas we praise almighty God for his marvelous plan of salvation. We also thank our heavenly Father for sending us his Beloved Son to be our Savior.

     Finally, I would like to briefly mention the main lesson we may learn from our reflections in front of the Nativity scene today. We human beings have been placed in this world to be humble and to live in a healthy, strong relationship with the Lord. Some of us may need to completely restore that relationship with him. Humility should be our lifestyle, the hallmark of our relationship with our God and with each human being. With all faith, let us humbly ask our dear Lord and Savior to grant us his grace to be humble, following his perfect example. Let us also humbly ask him to help us grow in our relationship with him.

Merry Christmas!