Christmas Eve
(II Samuel 7:1-5.8b-12.14a.16; Luke 1:67-79)
The children of a mountain village in Honduras are too poor to expect anything for Christmas other than tamales on the table. As Christmas gifts they promise the infant Jesus to pray harder and to do their chores more willingly. These children may be closer to the meaning of Christmas than counterparts in wealthy country who cry if they do not receive the play station that they have had an eye on. However, all of us should be careful to note that the original Christmas gift is not something humans do for God or for one another. Rather, it is God’s initiative to send His son to us.
The first reading expresses the paradoxical gift. David wants to build a house for God. Astuteness more than piety may be his motive. David knows that if the Ark of the Covenant were kept in a shrine in Jerusalem, all Israel would come to his city, In telling David what He will do for him, God is reminding him that the people are His -- God’s -- not the king’s. He shall give David present rest from his enemies, and a future descendant who will rule forever.
We recognize this descendant as Jesus, the Christ. Zechariah sees his arrival as imminent. He compares the coming Christ to the sun giving light and warmth without which a life of grace would be impossible.
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