If I had One Wish

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota 

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

When I was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I had a dog named Max. I loved him so dearly. I provided for him, cared for him, protected him, and made sure he received medical care from a licensed veterinarian. As much as I loved Max, there was no way I would have agreed to become a dog even for a split second. No way! Because to become a dog means that I would sniff the ground, lick the floor and people’s feet, eat disgusting stuff from garbages. Don’t get me wrong. I did love my dog, but I wouldn't go as far as taking his nature in order to be one with him and show him how much I loved him. Guess what? That’s precisely what Jesus did for us. He became one with us and one of us. 

The central claim of Christianity is that God became a human being. The creator of the universe, who transcends any definition or concept, took to himself a nature like ours. God became one of us. Our Christian faith asserts boldly that the infinite and finite met, that the eternal and the temporal embraced each other, the fashion designer of everything— seen and unseen, known and unknown, big and small, the galaxies and planets became a baby too weak to even raise his head, too vulnerable even to protect himself. And to make this bold claim even bolder, this incarnation of God did not happen in Rome, Athens, or Babylon; not in a great cultural or political capital, but in Bethlehem of Judea, a tiny city in the corner of the Roman Empire. This great event that occurred in an insignificant place is what is being celebrated here and globally today. Today, we celebrate the entrance of the Lamb of God into the shrine (our neighborhood) to become the Lamb for the sacrifice. 

But why did he come? Why did God humble himself and allow himself in the process to be humiliated? The Lamb of God came to wash away our sin, to take away our sin and shame with his precious Blood. But more than that, he came to make us participants in God’s own life. The good news of Christmas is that Yahweh is moving among his people; the rightful King has returned to reclaim what is his and to let prisoners go free. The God announced by all the prophets and patriarchs—Abraham, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Isaiah has come. He is a God of justice and he has come to set things right. God hates the sin, violence, injustice and all manners of hate that have rendered the beautiful world he created depressive and gloomy. Although his arrival was quiet, silent and unknown by many, nevertheless, he has come as a warrior ready to fight. When we look at the manger, what we see is a helpless infant, born of insignificant parents in a tiny and unknown distant outpost of the Roman Empire. However, as we learned from the Scripture and Tradition, he did conquer through the irresistible power of his love, the same power with which he created the universe. Yahweh among us has come to gather people scattered by division, jealousy, and hate together, cleanse the temple which is our bodies, decisively  deal with our enemy, the evil one, and finally reign as the Lord of the our lives and the world.  

Sisters and brothers, if I had one wish as we celebrate Christmas, it would be that we all live in peace and harmony as brothers and sisters. That is what Jesus teaches us in John 13:34, “Love one another as I have loved you.” If I had one wish, it would be a total eradication of all rivalries, divisions, hate, racial bias and resentment because they prevent us from participating in the divine life. Jesus came to reconcile us with God and with each other. He came that we may have life, life in abundance (Jn10:10b). If I had one Christmas wish, it would be that all lives be respected and protected from the womb to the tomb. It is what Mary and Joseph have taught us by their example. When the life of the infant baby Jesus was threatened by King Herod, they took him and ran to Egypt. If I had one Christmas wish, it would be that we begin to appeal to our better angels, elevate them, and bring out the best in each other. That’s exactly what Jesus did to the woman caught in the act of adultery in John 8:1-11. If I had one Christmas wish, it would be to end untold suffering and hunger in Africa, Middle East and everywhere. Jesus was interested in ending hunger when he multiplied five loaves of bread and two wish and fed a multitude (Matt.14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:1-15). God through Jesus came to bring us healing. If I had one Christmas wish, it would be that you and I are happy, healthy, peaceful and saved. My one Christmas wish is that the newborn King will reign in our hearts and in the hearts of all. 

Merry Christmas!