Shikrot Mpwi – Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk
Some thoughts on Christmas Vigil – Dec 24, 2023.
Theme: Joining the Shepherds in the First Gloria!
Introduction
Beloved in Christ, today is Christmas eve. In Nigeria, we are quite familiar with the razzmatazz that is often associated with the day or period of time immediately before an event like the bachelor’s eve or what is popularly called, before the wedding – Usually, the friends of the groom or groomsmen raise money and throw some kind of a send-off party for their crony who is about to graduate from bachelorhood to both familyhood and fatherhood. Do we have that kind of feeling?
Some thoughts on Christmas Vigil
The Church awaits with joyful expectation the bachelor’s eve of Christ her bridegroom. Little wonder, having been born, he was more than willing to lay down his life for his bride, the Church (Cf. Eph. 5:25). Of him Saint John writes: “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete” (John 3:29). So too, the Church awaits the Saviour’s birth, the bridegroom whom John the Baptist heralded as St. Luke rightly points out (Cf. Acts 13:16-17.22-25).
This Christmas’ eve is the moment we have all been waiting for – for us, it is the moment of grace and blessings, the moment of love and mercy and the moment of joyous waiting and expectation. Just as Mary and Joseph waited in expectation for Christ’s birth, the Church awaits with the joy that glorious moment when the saviour is born – this is why we are keeping vigil for that night that made the difference in our lives; that night that remains the focal point of our salvation history.
The Prophet Isaiah (Is. 62:1-5) equates our joy to that of a bridegroom who rejoices in his bride. Like the chant of Psalmist, we are called to sing the goodness of the Lord forever (Cf. Psalm 89:1). This Holy Season points t0 our individual families and the family of God which is the Church. The Church did not choose the genealogy of Jesus (Cf. Matt. 1:1-25) for fancy. Without doubt, each member of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph was an embodiment of grace, value and honour.
Pastoral Lessons
1. Appreciate your family: In a society where some young people are too ashamed to identify with their parents or siblings because they are either too poor or primitive, we are charged to appreciate and be proud of individual families.
2. Embrace contentment: That Jesus borrowed a manger to be born, perhaps without a napkin, pampers or new clothing yet the First Family remains the happiest family the world has ever had reminds us that happiness does not come with attachment to material belongings, but rather, an inner disposition to containment while accepting where we come from while placing human beings above wealth and power.
3. Share the joy of Christmas: Christians everywhere are called to share the joy of Christmas with everyone especially those at the margins of society – the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the hospitalised, the imprisoned, the lonely, the aged, the housebound and the unloved.
4. Be wedded to Christ: By his birth, God initiated a covenantal relationship with us – the wedding of Christ and the Church, Christ and the Christian, heaven and earth and the need to be wedded with Christ by the manner of our lives.
5. Relish the Gloria: As Catholics, we are proud to, once again sing the Gloria, we have been starved of for four weeks – Our joy is that we won’t have to sing the Gloria only today and tomorrow, but every time we celebrate the Lord’s mysteries at Holy Mass.
Conclusion
Tonight, we join the shepherds in keeping vigil as we await the star of Bethlehem. Indeed, the groins of labour are replaced by the sight of the beautiful baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. The cry of the baby King is replaced by the Gloria of the heavenly throng. Merry Christmas!!
