Christmas Day Year A 2025

"The Lord has proclaimed to the ends of the earth: 'Say to Daughter Zion, "See, your Saviour comes!"'" These words from Isaiah thunder with promise and, today, that promise is fulfilled! God has proclaimed salvation not just to one nation, but to the ends of the earth. We, you and I, are the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord!

Christmas is not about how much money is spent on gifts, but rather, on how much effort and time we give to make Christ a vital part of our lives. For you and I will never be able to erase the fact that Christ came:  (MW)

Saint Augustine captured this wonder perfectly: "He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed." Think of it! The God who flung stars into space chose to be cradled in human arms. Paul writing to Titus declared, "The kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared!" Not his wrath, not his judgment but his kindness appeared in flesh and blood.

Emmanuel d'Alzon understood this transforming love: "The love of God is not a small thing, for all our capacity for loving is from Him." This Christmas love changes everything! Through no merit of our own, God poured out his Spirit lavishly upon us, making us heirs of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

We are told that Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. Can we do the same? Can we treasure the astounding reality that God cared enough to be born in our Bethlehem, to live in our land, to weep over our cities, to die and rise again?

(MW)Whatever part of you is crippled or wherever you need God's saving power, know that Christmas is for healing. Jesus came to heal! So if you can trust Jesus enough to walk out on the waters of being involved, of washing feet and anointing people with love and peace, of breaking bread and working miracles, Jesus’ saving presence will touch those blind and crippled parts of your life, and Christmas will come to you in a very special way.

Peace is spread across our broken world: one healed heart at a time, one act of kindness radiating outward, one family choosing love over division, one community choosing harmony over discord.

(MW)More than anything open yourself fully to Christmas this year. It is a gift, an offer. You can take it if you like, but It does not come as a wrapped-up package. It is deeper than that. It is warmer, brighter, holier. It is more personal. Christmas is more challenging than a wrapped-up package. It is an offer. It is a mystery. It is birth. It is hope.  This is Christmas, and God can never be born enough! 

Let this be your best Christmas ever—filled with wonder, gratitude, and deep pride in Jesus, our Saviour who became one of us to save us all. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

By Fr. Thomas O'Brien a.a.