Chrismas 2019

Post date: Dec 31, 2019 2:24:56 PM

Christmas 2019 Homily by Fr. Karl Schray

In his autobiography, An Only Child, Irish writer, Frank O’Connor,

tells how one Christmas he received a toy wind-up train engine.

On Christmas afternoon, his mother took him to visit the local convent.

As the engine was the only present he had received,

he took it with him to show it to the nuns.

While he was in the convent one of the nuns brought him

to visit the crib in the chapel. As he looked into the crib

he noticed something which upset him very much.

What upset him was the fact that

the Child Jesus was lying there in the manger without a single present.

He knew exactly how that child felt—

feeling forgotten and unloved. Turning to the nun,

he asked why the Holy Child hadn’t got any toys,

and she replied, his mother is too poor to afford them.

That settled it.

His mother was poor too, but at Christmas she always managed

to buy him something, even if only a box of crayons.

In a burst of reckless generosity, he took the toy engine,

climbed into the crib, and put it between the outstretched arms of the Child.

And he showed him how to wind it as well,

because a little baby would not be clever enough to know a thing like that.

This story shows us the power of Christmas.

Through Christmas, God gives us an opportunity to show

what we are capable of. Of course, He set the example himself.

He made us a gift of his most precious possession—His only son.

God’s Son could have come in power and wealth.

Had he come in power, we would have bowed down in fear before him.

Thus, he would have made us feel small and weak.

If he had come in wealth,

he would have made us aware of our own poverty.

Thus, he would have aroused a feeling of envy in us,

which would have done serious damage to our hearts.

He came in weakness so we are aware of our own power.

He came in poverty, so we are aware of our own riches. His poverty

aroused in us a feeling of compassion, thereby bringing our hearts to life.

Is Jesus on our list this Christmas?

What special gift are we giving to Jesus this Christmas?

God sent Jesus from heaven to earth to give us human beings

what we really needed most in life: hearts filled with love.

We have many wants but we have only one need: love.

God wants to give each of us a heart filled with love,

compassion and forgiveness on this Christmas and every day of our lives.