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The Season of Advent: Christmas as “Christ’s Mass”
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Christmas as “Christ’s Mass”:The Manger and the Eucharist
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People will frequently talk about the fact that we shouldn't take Christ out of Christmas. Not long ago, a Protestant friend of mine, a biblical scholar, posted on his social media that it just occurred to him that while his Protestant friends are often concerned about taking Christ out of Christmas, they seem less worried about taking the Mass out of Christmas. What connection is there between Christmas and the Mass? That's the focus of this talk here? Before we get underway, I'd like to begin with a prayer. This is the prayer before study that is attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Ineffable Creator, you are proclaimed the true font of light and wisdom and the primal origin raised high beyond all things. Pour forth a ray of your brightness into the darkened places, places of my mind. Disperse from my soul the twofold darkness into which I was born, sin and ignorance. You make eloquent the tongues of infants. Refine my speech and pour forth upon my lips the goodness of your blessing. Grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, subtlety to interpret, and eloquence in speech. May you guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress and bring it to completion. You who are true God and true man, who live and reign world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. At the heart of any depiction of Christmas has to be the nativity scene. At the heart of the story of Jesus birth, we have the child in a manger. The immortal song Away in a Manger celebrates this. Away in a manger, no crib for a bed. The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. Why is it so important that Jesus is born in a manger? Well, I'd like to look at the Christmas story here and tease out some of the meaning that was later caught by great fathers and doctors of the church down throughout the ages. First of all, let's look at the story of Jesus birth. And of course, we recognize that according to the New Testament, Jesus is born in Bethlehem. Now, in the Gospel of Matthew, we discover that this is incredibly significant. It's a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Herod discovers these magi who have come looking for a newborn king. And Herod gathers the scribes and asks them a question. Reread. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired from them where the Christ was to be born. Then they said to him, in Bethlehem of Judea. Why? Why were the scribes the Ex in the Scriptures of Israel. So convinced the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem, well, they told him in Bethlehem of Judea. For thus it is written by the prophet, and you, Bethlehem of the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall go forth a ruler who shall shepherd my people. So here we have a prophecy taken from the Book of Micah. There's a little bit of 2 Samuel 5, 2 thrown in there as well that announces that a future figure will come to rule God's people and that this future figure will come from Bethlehem. Now, Bethlehem wasn't a terribly significant city in Jesus's day. It certainly wasn't a center of power, was a sleepy little town. You probably know this song, oh, Little Town of Bethlehem, sort of captures the sense that the city was out of the way. What put Bethlehem on the map was the fact that the greatest king in Israel's history, David, had been born there. And so Bethlehem was associated with David. And so it was appropriate that the Messiah would be born Bethlehem. Now, Luke doesn't mention that prophecy from the book of Micah, but biblical scholars like Raymond Brown point out that, in fact, if you look at Luke's narrative, there are all sorts of allusions and echoes to things that we find in that section of Micah's prophecy. And so it's very likely that Micah's prophecy is also in the background in Luke's Gospel. Of course, Luke gives us an account of Jesus birth as well. Matthew tells us about how the magi came after Jesus was born, probably not the same night Jesus was born. Luke tells us a bit more. Luke tells us about what happens on the night of Jesus birth. And I can't say everything I'd like to say about it. I have written a new book called the True Meaning of Christmas, the Birth of Jesus and the Origins of the Season. Where I go in depth into some of this. There's a forward from noted church historian John Cavadini, theologian at the University of Notre Dame. And the book's also available in Spanish in the Gospel of Luke we read. Now, it happened in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment when Quirinius was governor of Syria and all went to be enrolled, each one to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And it happened while they were there. The time came for her to give birth. So in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is born in Bethlehem because Joseph had to return there since he was from the line of the great king who had originally hailed from Bethlehem. Of course, Caesar imagines he's in control and he's calling all the shots. He's telling everybody what they have to do. We don't have time to get into all the details here of this enrollment and how they work with what we know in other ancient Jewish sources. There's a lot of detail there. But for now, let's just focus on the fact that Jesus is born in Bethlehem because he is of the royal line, right? Joseph is his father, at least adopted father. And so legally he shares in Joseph's lineage. Jesus is from the line of the great king David. And as the New Testament shows us, he is the one who fulfills these hopes that we find in books like Micah. A coming ruler will establish God's reign over his people. And here, this takes place in the birth of Jesus. Now we go on to read that Jesus is laid in a manger. I'd like to unpack this a bit, because here is a scene, Here's a detail that often gets misunderstood, misconstrued. And Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and she laid him in a manger. The Greek word there is fatne because there was no room for them in the inn. The Greek word there is kataluma. Now, I want to say something about this. This scene is frequently misunderstood, and it's kind of presented in ways that reinforce false impressions of the story. Here we read, and this is a common translation, that there was no room for them in the inn. What's going on here? Is there some kind of like no vacancy sign in Hotel Bethlehem? A lot of the time when the story of Jesus birth is retold, you get the idea that Mary and Joseph are coming to Bethlehem. And the night they get there, Mary is about to give birth. And so they go to all these different inns. They go to hotels, it seems, right. There's no room in the inn. They can't find a place to stay, so they end up in a stable somewhere. That's not really part of the story of Luke. And this whole idea of an inn is actually based on a kind of mistranslation. Let me unpack what's going on here and explain why it's significant. I don't want to just be like a myth buster. There's some really important theological truths that are lost when we mistranslate this passage. So Jesus is laid in a manger. The Greek word there is fatneh. It can mean like something like a stall, like a horse doll. But because they wrap him up tightly and they lay him in a manger, fatneh here probably means something like a feeding trough. Right. It's the place where the animals eat. And we have these great traditions in the church, like Las Posadas or there are Irish traditions that remember Mary and Joseph looking for accommodations. They're unable to find a place. And so like in Las Posadas, you'll have them reenact this attempt to find a place to stay. In the Irish tradition, there was this custom of lighting a candle and putting it in your window at Christmas time. And this was to signify that you welcome the light of Christ in your home. Really, these traditions are based on beautiful instincts. That Christ wasn't recognized when he was born by most people, that Jesus wasn't given proper accommodations, at least not proper accommodations for a king. Right. And these are really beautiful traditions, help us recognize Christ in the poor. But if we mistranslate this term, we're going to have. We're going to miss out on a deeper truth that I think we want to see. So the word in actually isn't the best word here. Later in the Gospel of Luke, we have the story of the Good Samaritan, where we read about how the Good Samaritan helps the injured man and he actually puts him in an inn. And the word there for in, that's Luke 10:34. The word there for in is. That's not the word that's translated in here. I think a better translation would be, there was no space. We say there's no room. In the end, I think you hear that and you imagine, oh, the hotel, I don't know. The front desk person is looking for a key. Room 12? No. Room 10? No. Room 7? Huh? No. We have no rooms in the inn. Right. That's not what's going on. The Greek word that's translated room in the inn. Room is actually from the Greek word tapos, which really can mean place or space. So I like to translate this. There was no space for them in. Now here's the really neat part. The word that's translated in is actually in Greek, kataluma. It's better translated room. Later on in the Gospel of Luke, we have a reference to a guest room. That's the same word, kataluma. It's the word for the upper room. This is significant, right? Look at what happens later in the Gospel. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22, we read the disciples come and ask Jesus, where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you? And Jesus says, behold, when you have entered into the city, you will meet a man carrying a water jar. Follow him into the house in which he enters. And you shall say to the master of the house, the teacher says to you, where is the katiluma? Where is the room? Where's the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room that is furnished there. Prepare. And they went and they found everything as he had said to them. And they prepared the Passover. It's Peter and John in Luke's Gospel. And while they're there in the room, in the upper room, in the kataluma, Jesus takes the bread. And after giving thanks, he broke it. And he gave it to them, saying, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Okay, so let's unpack what's just happened. In the Christmas story, Jesus is laid in a manger. He's put where the food goes. Why is he in the manger? Because he can't be in the room, can't be in the kataluma. There's no space in the room, no space in the kataluma. And so they put him in the manger. Jesus is put where the food goes. Later, when he's in the room, what does he do? He explains he is food. This bread is my body, he says. Now, the church fathers love to draw significance out of this. They pointed out, for example, that Bethlehem, in Hebrew, Beth, house bread. Bethlehem literally means house of bread. So Cyril of Alexandria says, whereas we were brutish in soul, by now approaching the manger, yes, his table we find no longer feed, you know, the feed for animals, but the bread from heaven, which is the body of life. We go to the house of the bread of life when we celebrate the Eucharist. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, then for the church fathers, what are we doing? We're going back to the manger. John Chrysostom in the late three hundreds, writes this. Actually, he preached this as a homily. This body even lying in a manger, Magi reverenced. Let us then at least imitate those barbarians. The magi weren't from the Roman Empire. They were from the East. We who are citizens of heaven. For they drew near with great Awe. But you behold him not in the manger, but on the altar. Not a woman holding him in her arms, but the priest standing by. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we go back to Bethlehem. Or we might put it another way, what happens at Christmas? God becomes man. God comes to us. Human flesh, and the mystery of that is understood by the Church to be extended sacramentally in the Eucharist. What happens in the Incarnation continues in the Eucharist. Origen, writing in the 200s, very ancient Christian writers says, where else would the shepherds hasten after the message of peace than to the spiritual house of the heavenly bread, Christ that is the Church. This is an ancient Christian understanding. It's no wonder that we reflect on the night of Jesus birth and remember it as what, Christmas? As the Mass of Christ. You can't take Jesus. You can't take Christ out of Christmas. But Mass is also a vitally important aspect of entering into the mystery of Christmas. You can't fully enter into the joy of Christmas without returning to the manger in the liturgy. Jerome, the great Bible scholar of the early Church, wrote, the fruit of our earth is the bread of life who was born for us at Bethlehem. Bethlehem in fact, means house of bread. And this is the bread that came forth in Bethlehem, that coming down from heaven was made for us, the bread into whose mystery angels desire to look. When we read the accounts of Jesus birth, we might long to have seen what the shepherds saw. When we read the account of Jesus birth in Bethlehem, we might wish that we could have been there with the angels, with Joseph and Mary. But what Christian tradition understands is that that event is prologue to the Church's celebration, that that event contains in mystery what we receive in sacrament. Gregory the Great puts it this, Bethlehem is translated house of bread. And it is he who said, I am the living bread who came down from heaven. John 6:15. The place in which the Lord was born was called the house of bread because it was truly going to come to pass, that he would appear there in a material body who would nourish the hearts of his chosen ones by an interior food. Christ comes and is placed where the animal's food goes, where the beast's food goes. And before the coming of Christ, we might see ourselves as unruly beasts. Without Christ coming to us, we lack the grace that we need to overcome our sinful passions and to do the commandments that have been given to us. St. Augustine, our patron here at the Augustine Institute, famously said, the law was given so grace we'd seek given the commandments, I can't keep them. Grace was given. So the law that. So the law we'd keep. I talk about this in my book, Salvation what Every Catholic Should Know. And the idea is that with the gift of Christ, we are now able to become what God wants us to be. This is especially highlighted in another way. In Luke's Gospel, we read about the angels appearing to the shepherds, and they announce, peace on earth. We read, and in that region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, be not afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people. For to you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and singing glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among men with whom he is pleased. A few things here. First of all, notice that it's angels who come to announce the birth of Christ. And some of the great church fathers, as I explain in the book here, the true meaning of Christmas, saw this as deeply poignant. Of course, when Adam and Eve sinned, they were driven out of the garden. And there I read that a cherubim, a kind of heavenly being, right, an angel, as it comes to be understood in Christian tradition, we call these heavenly beings angels, which means messengers is the Greek or Hebrew word for messenger, malak, messenger. And so the church fathers say, well, when we send, it was the angels who had to, in a way, protect humanity from God, stood in the way between man and God. But on Christmas night, now the angels come to declare peace. We are now at peace with heaven. Second thing, Christ is identified here as Christ the Lord. Now, that's a very significant line in the Gospel. I don't have time again to get into this, talk about this in my book On Christmas. But as Jason Staples shows, a New Testament scholar. In the New Testament, the word kurios, Lord can refer to a king, it can refer to a master, but it also is the word that's often used to substitute for the holy name of God. And in the Greek version of the Old Testament, sometimes you'll have the Lord God. And the way that gets translated into Greek is kurios Kurios. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus identifies himself as Lord. Lord Jesus isn't just a human king. He is the Lord. The fact that he's Christ the Lord is deeply significant for Luke. Here we have the most profound mystery at the heart of Christmas. God doesn't just send a messiah, but God becomes present with us. As Matthew says, Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. The world doesn't believe in love anymore. The world has become quite cynical that true love, real love, is possible. But in the Christmas story, we encounter a God who loves us so much, he's willing to empty himself, as Paul would say in Philippians 2, and take the form of a servant, and not just the form of an impoverished man, but to even take the form of an infant. And Origen goes on in a beautiful section of one of his writings to talk about how impossible it is for humanity to get their minds around this mystery, that the God of the universe would come and take the form of a vulnerable child and make the undignified sounds that infants make. Third, we read about how the angels are heavenly hosts. The Greek word there means armies. And so heaven and earth are no longer opposed. They're at peace. What does the heavenly army do? He doesn't wage war. And the heavenly army could come and defend Christ from those who'd want to harm him, but they don't. What do the heavenly. What does the heavenly army do? They worship. They worship God. They sing Glory to God in the Highest. And this is the same song that we sing every Sunday when we gather for the Church's liturgy, Glory to God in the Highest. Because every Sunday we enter into the extension of what happens on Christmas night. The same angels who proclaim his birth are present with us in the eucharistic celebration. The Church understands that we hear their song as we come together to worship. Finally, the angels announce peace, not just on earth. Sometimes you'll see on, like, a, you know, Hallmark card. Peace on earth and goodwill to men. That's not actually what the best manuscripts in the New Testament tell us. Luke actually wrote the best manuscripts, indicate that the angel sung, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace. I'm sorry, and on earth, peace among men with whom he is pleased. Peace will be found among those who please God. Peace is found in turning away from sin. Peace is found in repenting of sin. Peace is found in Christ. What does it mean to please the Lord? Well, in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is baptized. And we get a little detail. It's not mentioned by other evangelists. Other Gospel writers we read now when Jesus was baptized, when Jesus also had been baptized, was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form as a dove. And a voice came from heaven saying, you, you are my beloved son. Get this with you. I am well pleased. Who find peace, those who please God. What does it look like to please God? Christ chose us. Jesus shows us what it means to be pleasing to the Father. And so on Christmas, we ask the Father to help us come to embrace his Son, to help us recognize his coming to us not just in the manger, but, of course, in the eucharistic celebration, and to enter into that peace where we find harmony with heaven, where heaven comes to us, to unite us to God. This is the story of love, and this is at heart, the true meaning of Christmas. Christ's Mass. You can't have Christmas without Christ. But as my Protestant friend, who is a biblical scholar, points out, we really shouldn't take Mass out of Christmas either, because it's there that the mystery that we celebrate, the mystery that we commemorate is extended. Let's end with a prayer. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you so much for watching. I want to mention one more time this book, the true meaning of the Birth of Jesus and the Origins of the Season. Why is Jesus born in a manger? Who are the Magi? What is this mysterious Christmas star? How did December 25th become Christmas? How did St Nicholas become Santa Claus? Why do we have Christmas trees? So much more you can learn about that in this book. And we're also rolling out a new short course on Christmas as part of our short course program that the Augustine Institute promotes, Certificate program. You can learn more about Christmas by taking that course as well, which is based in many ways on the book. Thank you so much for watching. Merry Christmas.