Christmas 1

Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 148 v 11 - 13

Kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendour is above the earth and the heavens.

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share in our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. CW

God in Trinity, eternal unity of perfect love: gather the nations to be one family, and draw us into your holy life through the birth of Emmanuel, our Lord Jesus Christ. CW

First Bible Reading 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy wearing a linen ephod. His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, ‘May the LORD repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the LORD’; and then they would return to their home.

Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favour with the LORD and with the people. NRSV

Second Reading Colossians Chapter 3:12-17

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. NRSV

Gospel Reading Luke Chapter 2:41-52

Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travellers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour. NRSV

Post Communion Prayer

Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son shared at Nazareth the life of an earthly home: help your Church to live as one family, united in love and obedience, and bring us all at last to our home in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. CW

Commentary  - A Holy Family

When I was 11, I travelled each day to school on the famous ferry across the Mersey. It was wonderful and looking back I wished it could have lasted for longer, each day was an adventure. Of course then it was considered much safer for children, nowadays we can hardly think about letting children out of our sight. It might seem that there are far too many characters who prey upon children, what is perhaps more true is that now we are more aware of the dangers than ever were and we are trying to close the loopholes which have allowed people to operate so freely in our communities for years. I am sure that most parents have some idea how Mary and Joseph would have felt when Jesus went missing. When something so precious as a child is lost the sense of desperation can be intense.

I am fairly sure how I would have reacted if I found a missing child and they replied in the way that Jesus did to his parents! Instead it is Jesus who issues a rebuke to his parents. It is clear that at the time when his parents found him, Jesus was already aware of a destiny that was unlike other children. He was already drawn to God’s work and his special mission.

Raising children has never been easy in any culture. Sometimes the only thing that parents can do is to ponder the mystery and hope the child will (continue to) grow in wisdom, maturity, and favour among human beings and God.

According to Deuteronomy 16 v16, every Jewish male was required to appear before the Lord (in Jerusalem) to make an offering three times a year: Passover, which commemorates the deliverance from Egypt; Pentecost, which commemorates the giving of the Law on Sinai; and Booths (or Tabernacles) which recalls the forty-year sojourn in the wilderness. Today’s gospel reading shows Jesus’ family in the company of other devout Jews fulfilling the requirement of the Law during the Feast of Passover.

As his parents bring the child Jesus on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Jesus finds himself in the great Temple and in the midst of teachers. Without His parents knowledge, when they leave Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem. Its only when they can’t find Him among their friends and family they search the whole caravan, eventually returning to Jerusalem to look for Him there. Eventually they find Him in the Temple with a group of adult teachers (doctors) discussing matters with them on, at least, equal terms. It seems safe to assume that Jesus has made the transition into the adult world at this stage in His life. But the transition has consequences that are evident in Jesus' dialogue with Mary. Mary’s irritation, expressed in her question, "Son, why have you treated us like this?" is perfectly understandable. Jesus is (now) supposed to begin to behave like a responsible, adult male but clearly told no-one of His intentions to remain in the Temple and as such His behaviour is irresponsible and disrespectful. Jesus replies in the plural to both Mary and Joseph, "Did you not know . . .?" Male maturity in the Mediterranean world entails becoming liberated from the female control that characterizes early childhood. For Jesus it was also a transition in obedience from His earthly father, Joseph, to His heavenly Father. For Mary and Joseph this Passover journey involved more than a trip to Jerusalem for a religious festival, they were to "pass over" to new ways of understanding who they and Jesus was and who He would become. For while Jesus was (and would always be) the son of Mary and his foster father Joseph, he was most profoundly the Son of God who "must he in His Father's house." Paul in Colossians invites us too to "pass over" to a deeper understanding of who we are, God's chosen people, called to love one another as members of God's family.

Biblical scholars tend to classify the story of Jesus at the Temple as a "legend". This does not necessarily mean that the incident is wholly unhistorical, but that its purpose is not necessarily purely historical. So why did Luke include it in his gospel? The story about the Holy Family’s pilgrimage to the Temple gives an insight into their devout adherence to the Jewish law and the family structure which provided the environment in which Jesus would develop as a child, just as Samuel had developed in our Old Testament reading. Jesus’ development was a critical factor which laid the earthly foundations which would enable Him to fulfil His role as the eschatological prophet and the bringer of redemption to Israel and the wider world. The first reading tells the story of a young boy in "the temple of the Lord." Samuel's barren mother, Hannah, had made a vow to God that if she should have a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord's service. It is in fulfilment of this vow that Samuel is brought to the Temple where he will now live and study under the tutelage of the priest, Eli. In the gospel reading another male child is brought by his family to the Temple to fulfil religious obligations; both will be dedicated to the Lord's service, even from youth. 

Meditation

The writings of St. Paul are insistent and urgent: Christ is strategic to the world. The birth and life of the Lord Jesus are not just more of those events that might or might not have happened. They are the fulcrum of human destiny. By the coming of Jesus we are delivered from the law, and we become adopted children. We are no longer slaves, but heirs. And this is by God's design. Jesus is how God blesses us, more than Moses might have imagined. In his face God shines upon us and is gracious to us. In him God reveals eternal kindness and wishes us lasting peace. In him we know God's name and appearance and attitude. The blessing that the Lord gave to Moses for the Israelites is the blessing that God gives to all humankind, the blessing of the adopting parent who wants only our joy: "May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace."

John Kavanaugh, S. J. of Saint Louis University

Hymns

• Brightest and best         
• Make me a channel of your peace           
• Lord of all hopefulness
• Thou didst leave thy throne       
• Christians awake
• Unto us a boy is born
• Born in the night
• On Christmas Night 

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

Let the door of our heart be always open to you, O Lord, that we may mark your entrance, embrace your presence, hear your voice, seek your strength and hold fast to you for ever. Amen.Paul Heath (1599-1643)

With the angels and saints, each day and each night, each shade and each light, I bend my knee in the eye of the Father who created me, in the eye of the Son who redeemed me, in the eye of the Spirit who cleansed me. In love and affection, in wisdom and grace, in love and in fear, for ever and ever. Amen. Gaelic Prayer to the Trinity

O God, all holy one, you are our Mother and our Father and we are your children. Open our eyes and our hearts so that we may be able to discern your work in the universe. And be able to see Your features in every one of Your children. May we learn that there are many paths but all lead to You. Help us to know that you have created us for family, for togetherness, for peace, for gentleness, for compassion, for caring, for sharing. May we know that You want us to care for one another as those who know that they are sisters and brothers, members of the same family, Your family, the human family. Help us to beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks, so that we may be able to live in peace and harmony, wiping away the tears from the eyes of those who are less fortunate than ourselves. And may we know war no more, as we strive to be what You want us to be: Your children. Amen

Desmond M. Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa

We thank you Lord, that we are citizens of a world made up of different races. Your grace touches us all, whatever our race and colour. We rejoice in the richness of our cultures, our music and dance, our folklore and legends. We thank you for all these gifts. We delight in the joy they bring to our lives. Amen. (Women of Brazil)

The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight; and may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen