Christmas Day 2017
Christmas Day 2017
Homily
Early last year, I read a piece by a writer describing their experience of a school Christmas play.
It seems the boy playing the innkeeper had wanted to be Joseph because he had a liking for the girl playing Mary. When the play got to the part where he was to open the door, he refused.” Joseph” kept asking, the teacher’s voice could be heard trying to persuade the boy to open up, but he stubbornly refused.
Then a voice came from the rear of the hall. “Mohammed, open that door before I came down there and kick your backside!” roared the boy’s father. Fortunately, Mohammed then opened the door. Mohammed came from a family of Somali refugees.
The point of the incident is to bring home how universal this story is – and how appealing.
God has come to us, not in power demanding obedience, but s a helpless infant, calling us into relationship. The baby is powerless, he is not even in his own home, but somewhere else.
The first to acknowledge him are not the great and good, but shepherds. We must remember that shepherds were not that well trusted in that period. They were seen a bit like Gypsies often have. Not really part of the community, not really to be trusted.
And yet, these were the first to be told!
Have you ever felt alone, outcast, homeless? So has God.
How do we respond to God’s trust in, and call to, ourselves?