CHRISTMAS DAY – ARMY BARRACKS, IWO ROAD, IBADAN 1987
In the beginning was the World:
the World was with God
and the Word was God:
the world was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory
the glory that is his as the only son of the Father,
full of grace and truth
Today we celebrate a great feast. What does this feast mean to you? What does
Christians mean to you? There is no doubt it that if you ask different people this question
they will come up with different answers. Ask a little child what Christmas is and he
most probably will tell you that it is the time his parents buy him nice dresses, that on
Christmas Day itself, he eats nice food, that he eats a bigger piece of meat and that he
takes some soft drinks. Ask some other people what Christmas is all bout and they will
most probably tell/show you it is the time for eating to he point of over feeding and
drinking to the point of drunkenness. And while some spent the Christmas night in
churches, praising and thanking God for his love for us by choosing to live among us a
man, some other spend the Christmas night eating and drinking in night clubs.
For most of our Traders, market men and women, it is the time to inflate the cost
of hat they sell. For our transporters, it is that time to seize the opportunity of people
travelling to their homes to inflate the cost of travelling.
And so this wonderful feast has been turned to a time for overfeeding,
drunkeness, profiteering and other bad habits that make us loose sight off it religious
significance. Make no mistake about it, the way we understand Christmas determines the
way we celebrate the feast.
What does Christmas mean to you? What does Christmas meant o me? The
readings we have just listened to in today’s Mass explain t us in very simple terms the
meaning of Christian
ST.John tells us in today’s Gospel that in the beginning was the Word, that and ,
that Word was with God, and that Word was God Himself. The Word that was with God
in the beginning was God himself. And at a point in history, that Word become flesh,
that is to say, god become man, visible for us all to see. God became man in the little
child that was born in Bethlehem. In the little Child Jesus, horn in a manger, he words
of Isaiah in the first reading came true.
Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices,
they shout for joy together,
for they see the Lord face to face,
as he returns to Zion” (Is)
In the child Jesus, whose birth we celebrate today,
Man saw God “face to face”. St. John tells us in
today’s Gospel, that in Jesus we saw the glory of God:
“we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only son of
the Father, full of grace and truth”. (Jn1). The
response to our Responsonial Psalm tells us that in the
child born at Bethlehem, “And the ends of the earth
have seen the salvation of our God” (Ps 22, 27)
What then is the meaning of this feast? By this feast, we celebrate God’s coming
as man. God because man, He became seen by man in Jesus born in the manger a
Bethlehem. We celebrate the day God made himself personally present in th history fthe
human race.
“In the beginning was the Word: the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The World became
Flesh…” Yes! God took upon himself human flesh so
That we may see him “face to face”, and so that “All the
ends of the earth” can see “the salvation of our God”.
When was a child, my used to tell me that everyday is not Christmas. By that she
meant that the nice dress, the delicious food and drinks that were given on Christmas Day
were to for everyday. Christmas Day is only one day on the calendar. But let is be
known that for every Christian, everyday must be Christmas. That is to say, everyday
God must be seen by the world in us through us. Everyday must be Christmas for us
because everyday Jesus must be born in our hearts. As Christian, everyday must be
Christmas for us because everyday we must make God present in Nigeria. Everyday,
Jesus must be born into our families, into our place of work, so that through us, all shall
see the salvation of God.
As we celebrate this wonderful feast of the coming of God as man, let us
remember that god not only became man but also that he became a poor man, born not in
palace, not in a hospital, nor in a 5-star hotel, but in a manger, the dwelling place of
cattle, As we celebrate this wonderful feast, let us not fail to remember the poor among
us; they are not far away, they are in our midst. Shall we neglect them? As we put on
our fine dresses as we eat our delicious meals and take our drinks, let us remember many
Nigerians, and there are millions of them, who have no means of celebrating Christmas as
we are doing.
A middle-aged woman came to me yesterday with hr problem: her husband had
been retired for the past two years, and the government corporation for which he worked
has not paid his gratuity, two of her children have finished secondary school but there is
no money to further their education and they have succeeded in getting employed. She
herself does some petty trading which brings very little profit with which she tried to
maintain hr family. As at yesterday, they were not sure of what o eat, she did not even
have the money to buy some detergent to wash her dress not to talk of buying new ones.
This woman, her family, and many others like them are the kind of people with
whom you and I are celebrating Christmas. Perhaps you are in the same situation as they
are, perhaps years own situation is worse. But if yours is better, think of then, do
something to help them.
Today, as we celebrate this wonderful event, we should be remained, that as
Christian and as Nigerians, God is calling us to allow him to be born into our lives, our
private and public lives. God is calling us to work for the development of our beloved
fatherland and the happiness of her people so that “All the ends of the earth”, beginning
from Nigeria, North, South, East and West “may see the salvation of our God.”