The Nativity of the Lord
December 25, 2025
Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25
Celebrating Christmas is a matter of allowing our joy to be touched by painful realization. For the fleeting moments of celebration, our attention is drawn to the saving power of gentleness and innocence. But, the world beyond our celebration can seem so untouched by it all. The world we actually live in remains a tragic and ill-fated one. It would not be honest to paint a picture of it as a realm of unrelieved suffering and travail. There are joys to be found, true human joys; we have all had our share.
But, there is more trouble than we can comprehend. Wouldn’t we be wiser if we subdued our voices and believed less in the possibilities of peace we sing about so eloquently at Christmas? Isn’t it inevitable that peace really can’t be had; that it would be wiser if we reneged on some of the hope called forth by our celebration?
You know as well as I that we cannot! If our celebration of God-in-human flesh has any fundamental sense to it, it is the expression of the most unguarded hope we have for this world. For us, hope is not a luxury we indulge in because we are weak and can’t stand the truth. It is not a prop we use to buttress our anxiety and fear. It is simply a necessity of our Christian lives; part of us, woven into the very fiber of our being. It is the apprehension of our faith.
These are things we know. Christmas celebration makes sure we do not forget them. But, would it be stepping out of character to look for a sign of their truth? A sign that hope is a promise which remains good? I think not! After all, Mary and Joseph were given signs. The shepherds received one. But, where, if we want one, should we look?
Where is there a hint, a clue, that the apparent endless cycle of humans in destructive violent conflict, oppressive destitution, and repressive militancy, is not what it appears to be — a never ending cycle? Should we look to the Pakistan border, Afghanistan, Syria and Gaza, the Sudan or North Korea? Should we look closer to home; in the streets of our towns and cities where the children of our racism and the inequities in our society dwell? Should we look to the reports coming from the jails of the world in the annual of Amnesty International? No! We are not liable to find much in those directions. Where we might look with profit is toward those recent events which give promise of breaking the long-established patterns of the past, not repeating them.
In the Christian world: At the end of November this year (2025), Pope Leo XIV continued what Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church began. He issued resounding and historic calls for the reunification of churches separated since the year 1054. The Ecumenical Patriarch had told Francis: “The path toward unity is more urgent than ever for those who invoke the name of the great Peacemaker.” There is reason for hope here. There is cause for joy.
In the broader world of human affairs: Breaking with the patterns of the past goes beyond the Christian world. In this wider world, human beings and nations usually seem to be pitted against each other in unilateral self-interest, unbridled nationalism or sectarian ethnicity. But, curiously, this is not always the scene. Have we not heard more and more calls toward the jurisdiction of the World Court in settling disputes? In a world continuing to tolerate violence, isn’t the International Court of Justice being asked to serve a human community becoming more sensitive to behaviors that can only be described as “war crimes?” Are there not more and more voices raised urging response to the urgent crisis of health and hunger in the world, voices like Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, and Catholic Relief Services, to name a few? Isn’t it true that an uncommonly large number of young people are taking up the dull, exasperatingly routine work of gathering political force: to change the direction of policy for the allocation of resources around the world; to more responsibly prioritize global investment; and to encourage environmentally sound choices? Are they not signs of hope?
Of course, anyone without hope can always respond to these little hints and signs by saying: “They prove nothing, or very little! Who can know what unexpected turns history will take, dashing all our expectations, proving them to be nothing but illusion?” There is no answer that would satisfy here. No retort is possible. We can only wait and see. But, it is the way we wait that counts! We can wait with fatalism, letting the future happen to us. Or we can wait with hope. What is the difference? If we wait as men and women confident that their human powers have been “graced,” we become cooperators with the Lord who has embraced our history.
The God who dwells in our flesh did not promise an earthly paradise. But, that God did promise, and offered his own birth as a guarantee, that our world could be transformed through those who shared his same love of human abilities. This Eucharist we celebrate at Christmas is rooted in the promise that those who live, with Jesus the Christ, a human existence in hope will not live in vain. And so we wait! But, we wait as those who wait for life, even in our dying. We continue to celebrate our Christmas because it is expressive of the best truth about us.
Maryknoll Father John E. Keegan was a professor of the former Maryknoll School of Theology. He also taught at the State University of New York at Stonybrook, where in addition he served as chaplain at University Hospital. Father Keegan, who holds graduate degrees in philosophy, film and international relations, has authored numerous books and articles.
To read other Scripture reflections published by the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, click here.
Featured image: Advent candles, available in the public domain via Unsplash.
