Dear friends in Christ,
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day Mass), Year A (25 December 2025), I bring you greetings and God’s blessings!
Introduction
Beloved in Christ, we thank God for bringing us to yet another Christmas Season. In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah speaks of liberation and consolation for the people returning from exile. The second reading reveals how God spoke in the past to our ancestors through prophets, but in our time, he spoke through His Son. The gospel showcases Christ as the life that is light of the world, which shines in the dark.
Review of the Readings
In the first reading (Is 52:7-10), the Prophet Isaiah speaks of liberation and consolation for the people returning from exile. He praises the feet of the one who brings Good News, heralds peace, brings happiness, and proclaims salvation. He assures that the Lord shall redeem Israel, noting that the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
The second reading (Hebrews 1:1-6) reveals how God spoke in the past to our ancestors through prophets, but in our time, he spoke through His Son. It describes him as the radiant light of God’s glory, a perfect copy of his nature, and one who sustains the universe by his command. It notes that now he has destroyed the defilement of sin and taken his place in divine majesty. It further discloses that God gave Him the sacred duty of purifying sins while insisting that we imitate the angels in worshipping Him.
The gospel (John 1:1-5.9-14) showcases Christ as the life that is light of the world, which shines in the dark. It discloses that darkness cannot overpower it, even as it maintains that John was a witness to the light so that everyone might believe through him. The text emphasizes that it is from him that we all received grace in return for grace.
Takeaway Lessons
1. The Good news that Christmas brings is that Christ, the Star of Bethlehem, illumines every facet of our lives, urging us to shine like stars by being reconciled with our enemies and estranged members of our family.
2. Isaiah’s message in the reading challenges priests and religious to reflect on liberation theology by bringing the gospel of consolation and liberation to our troubled world.
3. Our liturgy challenges superpowers whose civilisation is shaped by Christian principles to take lessons in ending conflicts in the global south, while eschewing what Pope Francis calls the ideological colonisation of poorer countries.
4. Christmas reminds us to illumine the world, bearing in mind that darkness cannot overpower light.
5. Concerned that the candle of faith seems to be going out in the West, the Nativity of Christ challenges us to invoke the light of Christ to dispel the darkness of secularism, modernism, and consumerism by casting off the works of darkness and putting on the armour of light (Cf. Romans 13:12).
Conclusion
The excitement of children in Sub-Saharan Africa when electricity is restored after days of power outage should help us to disconnect from the darkness of sin to reconnect with the light of Christ. Those who often experience darkness or power outages, especially in rural Africa and third-world countries due to poor leadership, have some Good News – There is light at the end of the tunnel. Christ, the true leader per excellence, invites us to radiate his light to the world while awaiting a transformative renaissance. The joy of Christians at Christmas must transcend the ephemeral to the spiritual. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
