Christmas Mass of the Day 2025

There was a bishop who in striking up a conversation would like to know who the parents are of the person he is talking to. Both Matthew and Luke are no different. In fact, they go even further than just parents because they have presented us with the genealogy of Jesus. However, the Gospel today taken from John does the same tracing back but it goes even further than Mark and Matthew. Instead of outlining the ancestry of Jesus back to Adam and Eve, John traced it even further to God Himself.

There is a profundity in John’s thought as well as a loftiness in his theology because he is able to peer into and contemplate the divinity of Jesus Christ. Using Greek terminology, Jesus is equated with the Logos, the Word or the Reason through Whom, God created the universe. The Logos is not merely a principle but is in fact equivalent to God.

“The Word was with God. The Word was God”.

As such the Mass of the Day is called the King’s Mass. Through John’s Gospel, we are invited to come, more than the Shepherds’ marvelling at the birth of the Child, and to worship the King of Kings. Through the mystery of the Incarnation, our King lives with us and He has come to lift us up to Himself. As the Collects suggests, “O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature and still more wonderfully restored it, grant, we pray, that we may share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity”.

This King is the only king for whom time ticks. All time is reckoned by Him. Before His coming, time is measured as “Before Christ” but after His coming, time has been sanctified. The scale of time, BC and AD are demarcated by His birth. Thus, after Christ’s birth, time is now described as “In the Year of the Lord”, that is “Anno Domini”. The present system of describing time as BCE and CE, “Before Common Era” and “Common Era”, despite an attempt at distancing time from Christ, for fear of religious hegemony, namely Christian dominance, is still hegemonic because the scale or canon is still determined by the academics of the western hemisphere. If these superior intellectuals, so called, in their desires to be inclusive, they could have adopted an Islamic, Chinese or an Aztec calendar.

The fact remains, the convention for universal timeline has been settled upon the birth of a Child who is the King of the created universe. This Child will rule the world. And yet Christianity is not as widespread as it should be. There are about 8.4 billion inhabitants in this world but only 31% of that total is Christian. One can look at this from the perspective a half-empty glass and interpret that as the failure of Christianity or more specifically, the failure of Christians to evangelise.

But what about another perspective? Not so much the half-full glass so that we can pat ourselves on the back. Rather it is truth-telling. The Church in general has been at the forefront of furthering human flourishing. In the arena of agriculture, the science of crop rotation and irrigation has increased yield to feed growing populations. In education, the schools that provided learning led to the formation of the universities. In legal matters, the Church helped enact laws that promoted human rights and due process in defence of human dignity. Through her charities, the Church has founded hospitals and provided health care. In the area of science, the Church has that paved the way for discoveries across many facets of life. The problem is that we are often silenced by the one famous case of Galileo to prove that the Church is anti-science or anti-reason. But not many people hear about the Jesuit Science which because of Jesuit presence and involvement in establishing remote stations for the collection of seismic activity, seismology came to be known as the Jesuit science

The Church has been at the forefront of civilising the world. While in terms of evangelisation, she may not have done a great job, the truth remains that she has contributed to making the world a better place. The world as we know it today has been Christify by the Child born two thousand years ago. His birth signalled His intent on bringing all creation under His rule. His death and resurrection sealed the victory over sin and death.

However, the King has yet to fully reclaim creation in its entirety. The Church is called Ecclesia Militans for this reason. Christ has won the war over Satan’s rule but the battle continues in our courts, in our malls, in our academic halls and most of all in our hearts. Christians throughout the world must fight against their selfishness and conquer over their unruly desires in order to follow Christ.

There are many factors why Christianity or Catholicism has not taken roots in some parts of the world. Suffice to say that the Church’s failure at furthering Christ’s Kingdom stems from the sins of her children—me and you. We need to stand out more than others. As someone used to say, “We might be the only bible that unbelievers get to read” and rightly so, Pope Saint Leo the Great reminded us of our status as sons and daughters of God: “Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom.”

So, there is a lot of love to give. There is a lot of forgiveness to embrace. There is a lot of good to do. When we are able to love in the manner Jesus did, forgive the way Jesus modelled for us, be and do good Jesus went about, then the world might just recognise the Lord. Can we love better? Can we forgive more magnanimously? Can we be good? We can with the help of God and in so doing, we can become the fire that burns brightly in a darkness that calls out for the Light of Christ. There is a world waiting to recognise her King. It helps if we recognise Him first. So, let us come let us adore Him, Christ the King, Christ the Saviour, Christ the Lord.

Christmas Mass at Dawn Year A 2025

The Mass continues from yesterday midnight. The Gospel for the Angel’s Mass ended with the announcement to the Shepherd. “… Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger”.

The Gospel for the Shepherd’s Mass takes off from there. After the angels had left, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us”. So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.

The movement from the Midnight Mass to the Mass at Dawn mirrors the transition from truth or reality to meaning or responsibility. The angels merely announced to the shepherds that the Saviour was born and what the signs were that He would be associated with. With such a proclamation, the shepherds must now contend with the truth of the Saviour’s coming.

“Let us go and see” represents the act of assuming responsibility for one’s discovery of the truth or coming face to face with reality. Under the cover of darkness, Christ comes as Light to illumine the darkness of sins. He is the one who will save His people from the eternal damnation of sin.

The question at the heart of this Mass is salvation. What is it to be saved? And more than salvation is the urgency of it. The shepherds did not tarry. They did not wait for the right time. Instead, upon hearing the good news of the birth of Christ and after the angels’ departure, they hurried to Bethlehem. Their action shows an urgency of their part. They wanted to be saved.

Question for us is do we need to be saved? Or do we want to be saved?

Would it be fair to surmise that many of us are not in a hurry to embrace our salvation? Instead what is characteristic of our behaviour is the lack of haste. Many are just happy to delay or wait for an opportune moment, believing that there is always enough time to make the necessary changes needed for us to be saved.

But a more appropriate question is not if we want to be saved but rather if we truly appreciate salvation. It points to the truth that many do not really know what salvation is, for them to truly yearn for it. Either we do not appreciate it or we feel that we are entitled to it as if God were obliged to save us, whether we want it or not. If not, our lack of enthusiasm shows that we want to be saved with the least effort on our part or that we are not that in need of it because we do not think that it is that important.

The Collect of the 1st Sunday of Advent when using this phrase “resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming” demonstrates how much of a haste we ought to have.

Translated, it would mean that we would have to become more invested in our salvation. To be invested is to take on more of who Christ is as suggested by the Prayer over the Gifts. That the marvellous exchange between God and man be seen in an increase of our divinity or our godly behaviour. The intensity of our divine behaviour is confirmed by us through our deeds. Love shows itself in deeds rather than in words.

Finally, when we are full, we will not desire more than what our stomach can consume and contain. Likewise, when we are comfortable, we might never see the need to be saved cause we already feel safe. However, note that safety is not the same as being saved. One is a sense that nothing untoward can happen and that is safety. The other has a quality which is eternal and that is being saved. A person in safety does not mean that he is saved. In fact, hidden within the Christmas Octave is a feast which barely draws our attention. It is the Holy Innocents. Even though these children committed no personal sins, still they needed a Saviour. By their nature they shared in humanity’s need of redemption which only Jesus Christ the Saviour can provide. Nothing after Adam’s fall is free from the salvation which only Christ can bring.

The Feast of the Holy Innocents shows how necessary salvation is.

In summary, the experience of the shepherds has shown us that salvation is not a reality to be trifled with. They hastily made their way to see the Saviour born in Bethlehem. We too should not take it for granted. On one level, we are already looking for our salvation even if we were not aware of it. Meaning? We are unwittingly searching for salvation. A desire to be safe is basically a desire to be saved. But on another level, we should be careful to protect our salvation. It is not an automatic given whether we want it or not. It is not an entitlement. It is a gift to which we should respond.

May we have the heart of the Shepherds who rushed to seek Him out and to adore Him. As we adore Him, may we also make more room for Him in our hearts and in our lives so that we might be able to embrace the salvation for which He has come to bring each one of us.

Christmas Midnight Mass Year A 2025

In the Greek version of John 1 verse 14, it literally says that “The Word became flesh and pitched His tent amongst us”. Picture a crowded refugee camp filled with makeshift shelters. In the midst of these temporary settlements is the tent of the King. Nothing spectacular and yet He is just there with His people, sharing their pains and embracing the discomfort of everyone. There is an antecedent to the event of the birth of Christ where, after the Exodus from Egypt, God was carried around in the Tabernacle. However, the scene described by John is nuanced. Now God is NOT merely one with us but He is one OF us. He is Emmanuel.

A way to appreciate the profound reality of God as one of us is to look at history. When we speak of royalty, the imagery is that of a “cordon sanitaire”—a buffer zone surrounding the royal personage. Even though the POTUS is not royalty, still observe how Trump is protected. Compare this “sanitised” version of royalty with Richard III. He was the last King of England who died in battle. He was at the forefront of it all. Whether he was a good King or not is not the point here. Instead the fact that he died in battle gives us an idea of what sort of God we have. He not only pitched His tent amongst us. He bore our pains, carried our grief and suffered for our transgressions.

There is a huge chasm between Richard III and our God. Richard died to protect his position which is basically nothing more than self-interest. He was fighting for his kingship or his reign. Whereas Jesus, our King died for our sins. He who was sinless took upon Himself all our offences.

We have a God who, all holy, dares to take on our messiness in order to save us. The 1st Reading speaks of this messiness by linking it to darkness and how a nation who has lived in darkness has been longing for the light. Christ is the light that broke through the darkness of our sins. He came in order to save us as individuals and as humanity.

The fascinating truth about this salvation is that prior to Christ coming to be with us, the people longed for Him. The irony is that after He came, still people did not know Him. I wager that the world is still waiting for a Saviour to come. A simple example of our waiting is our search for “solutions”. Right now we are looking for a cure for the malaise (not Melayu) known as global warming. While we are trying to stem the rise in ambient temperature due to excessive carbon dioxide emissions, the effort is actually nothing more than a cry for salvation.

The final solution that we all desire is not to be found in human machinations in the first place. In trying to cut waste and the ever-increasing need for landfills that is caused by our disposable culture, we seem to focus on biodegradability. The use of biodegradable plastic bags may have created the illusion that we are no longer polluting the earth, and in some cases, it may have encouraged greater usage. This search to “save” the world merely shows that the solutions we seek are to be found in the conversion of our hearts. And that is a much harder task to achieve.

Conversion is a life-long and life-changing process. Christ in becoming man is God’s great gift to us to reclaim our divinity. As the Psalmist says, “You have made us a little less than a god” but we lost that gift through the sin of Adam. With Christ assuming our humanity, the process of restoring our divine state as a little less than a god can resume. At the Offertory, the adding of water into wine we pray that “we may come to share His divinity as He humbled Himself to share our humanity”.

The Light has come to change our destiny. The trouble is, do we need that Light or are we still interested in that conversion?

Firstly, we are having a good time here on earth. A good example is the luxury afforded by air transportation. Here in the hot tropics, imagine how temperate-climate fruits that have a short shelf-life can now be savoured by us. Literally, from the trees to our tables. Life is good except for the occasional road-bumps. Old age, chronic illness, financial disaster. Other than these minor inconveniences, the truth for so many of us is that we have no need for God, let alone a Saviour.

The sad reality about this is that more than ever we need the Lord. We need the Saviour. Ukraine is still being attacked by Russia. The peace deal in Gaza is at best flimsy and all that is needed is for an idiot to set the region afire. Even though we may have advanced technologically by leaps and bounds, the truth remains that we are not saved and we cannot save ourselves. An alcoholic can tell you that, or any addict, for the matter of speaking. Unless he or she recognises that there is a power under which one is pressed down or in bondage to, only then can the enslaved individual reach out for salvation. We need to be saved. Whether we know it or not. Whether we accept it or not. We need a Saviour, and in many cases, we need to be saved from ourselves.

Tonight, we celebrate the coming of the great Saviour. Indeed every Christmas is a reminder that He has come, He wants to be with us, He wants to save us. The Child, placed in the manger, is our Saviour. Come let us adore Him.

Christmas Mass of the Day

We have now arrived at technically what is called the Mass of the King. This is my favourite Mass for Christmas for this reason. While the Infancy Narratives of Matthew or Luke stretches back to Abraham or Adam, John skips the details surrounding Christ’s birth. Instead, he transports all the way back to the beginning of time.

There, in the beginning, we enter more deeply into the mystery of the Incarnation of the King of kings. The contemplation is profound. The Baby that lies in the manger is basically God Himself. Through Him all things came into being. Thus, the plan of salvation was already there at the beginning of creation.

Jesus is God’s profound personal love for humanity. In the example of Moses, he encountered God but only through a burning bush. On Christmas, the shepherds were able to behold the face of God Himself in Jesus Christ. The author to the Hebrews states that “in times past, He spoke through the prophets and in various diverse ways. Now He has chosen to speak to us through His Son”. The invisible has now become visible as St Paul explained to the Colossians that “He is the image of the unseen God”. Perhaps it makes sense that Catholics express this reality through sacramentals like statues and pictures of Jesus.

God has never forsaken us but it is a struggle to grasp this truth. “God-with-us” should give us pause for joy. Yet, we are not wonderstruck. Recently, the Pope came to Singapore. Imagine the number of people who went gaga over the Holy Father. A personal picture with him would be a dream. But in the case of a babe in the manger, whom are we beholding? He is someone who ranks far higher than a prince or a pope.

God speaking through His Son is a big deal. Through Him we have been given the privilege of adoption. “To those who accept Him, He gave power to become children of God”. But more than He speaking to us is the desire to be with us. According to John’s Gospel, “He pitched His tent amongst us”. The translation we are accustomed to, like “The Word became flesh” is rather pedestrian. Whereas God pitching His tent amongst us is more inspiring. Picture the Israelite having escaped from Egypt with bare necessities. Pitching His tent amongst the fleeing refugees, God shares their hardship, for He is God with us.

Modernity’s problematic with the idea of Emmanuel may spring from a fatigue which has endured wave after wave of catastrophe. Humanity has witnessed the scale of global suffering that the feeling is rather of the absence of God. Where is God? Why are we suffering?

Our materialistic blinkers are blinding. We are engrossed with pleasure that life’s purpose escapes us. God is with us in all the messiness of life even if we do not feel it. Tomorrow, we celebrate St Stephen, the proto-martyr. Two days later we commemorate the Holy Innocents. Right after Christmas, the Way of the Cross is already revealed to us. The death of innocent children offends our modern sensibility because we have lost the sense of sin and necessity of salvation. The children in Bethlehem may have suffered death in their innocence but they still need their Saviour. In other words, the King in the manger will be the suffering servant for He has come to save us from eternal damnation. God with us is not a guarantee that there will not be pain. In fact, the price of God’s presence is the death of Jesus on Calvary. The cradle becomes the Cross, the Christmas tree stands in the shadow of Calvary.

Therefore, God with us is not the same as heaven is here. When we mistake God’s presence to be heaven on earth, then we will have difficulties navigating through the problems and pains that life throws at us. Creation, though beautiful, is imperfect and it is groaning because it hungers for salvation. Prior to Christ’s coming our human race was disfigured by sin, lost and wandering in a dark world. Christ’s coming ushers in a new chapter of salvation history. He is with us makes is possible to live in a world which has been redeemed but is still on the road to final perfection.

In other words, Christmas is the already and not yet. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Though already present in his Church, Christ’s reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled ‘with power and great glory’ by the King’s return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ’s Passover. Until everything is subject to him, ‘until there be realised new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God’” (671).

Emmanuel gives us the strength to live this already and not yet. In the meantime, be always on the guard and watchful because we live as if we are waiting for the Son of Man to come again. In other words, our conduct should be that when we face judgement, we are confident. It is hopeful and trusting that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus (the already), we will be brought to the finality of completion in the future (not yet).

We have been freed from domination by sin and death and freed for a life in the Holy Spirit. Jesus who pitched His tent amongst us gives us the ability to stand with Him gives us the privilege to call God, Abba, Father. In this time of in-between already and not yet, we continue to pray “Thy Kingdom come”.

Christmas Day Mass at Dawn

I read somewhere about the four stages of life. The first stage, one believes in Santa Claus. The second, one does not believe in Santa Claus. The third, one is Santa Claus. The fourth, one looks like Santa Claus. Some of you parents here may be broke because you are breathing the 3rd stage. You are Santa Claus.

Whatever stage in life, and whether or not you believe in Santa, we can agree that we are here to glorify God. The Gospel continues from last night’s birth of the Child. Closer to midnight, the first of the Christmas Masses showcased the battle between darkness and light with the focus on the announcement of the Angel. This morning after the Angel’s announcement, the Shepherds hurried to Bethlehem to behold the birth of the Child Wonder. The fruit of their encounter of the Saviour was their proclamation of what they had witnessed. According to social hierarchy, the shepherds rank right at the bottom of the ladder. They had nothing. It was their lack that allowed them to behold so great a sight.

The birth of this Child lifts earth to heaven and stoops heaven to earth. One can even say that shepherds who came to behold the Child were indeed coming to behold, like us, the Eucharist. It is like sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament and adoring Christ. He came as an insignificant Child, choosing to be born in such a humble setting so that we can all marvel at what God can accomplish. He did not come with power, not as emperor or king, MP (member of parliament) or congressman. He came as God to show us what He can accomplish just by being Himself.

In fact by His helplessness, He drew to Himself, the powerful like the Magi and the powerless like the poor shepherds. But sadly, we are afraid of nothingness. Maybe we are even afraid of our shadow. Have you noticed that our Christmas has to be filled with plenty. This is supposedly the season of emptying like Christ emptying Himself but judging by gifts galore in the shopping malls, it is the season of getting. Commercially we have been corralled to adopt a kind of bazaar behaviour. And Christmas has been reduced to nothing more than a consumer’s haven. Consumerism could be a sort of overcompensation for our fear of nothingness and it leads to an obsession with the self.

How then can we be more than consumers? How should we not overcompensate?

Perhaps the English language can help us. It is the word “present”. We have taken the reality of “present” to new heights of materialism. While giving is part of Christmas, the greatest present we have and can give is the presence of ourselves. It is personal. How present are we to one another? What is the quality of my presence to my family or friends? The beauty of the lowly shepherds is their ability to adore the Lord fully present in His humility and helplessness.

Sometimes we substitute our presence with presents thinking that sheer material pleasure is enough to take the place of the simple truth of being present—physically, psychologically and even spiritually. Many struggle to be present, let alone be still. Imagine sitting down and doing nothing? For almost all of us, that would be the definition of boredom. Visualise the motorcycles 5 or 6 abreast and the queue is one-kilometre long enduring the daily drudgery of crossing to and from Singapore. Everyone, if not all, silently gives thanks to the Lord for social media and the internet. To be able to watch a movie while waiting is not “wasted” time. For many this represents progress.

But what have we lost in this unstoppable “march of progress”? It is an ability to withdraw, to take a step back and to contemplate. The shepherds hurried away from their already quiet lives of desperation when they went to see the child. They found Him and they contemplated Him in His humble glory. The description that Mary pondered these things in her heart shines the path forward.

Christmas Mass at Dawn helps us to contemplate the event of human salvation. We are saved by the coming of the Lord. We marvel at what Christ can do and has done for us just by being Himself—God made man. In our withdrawal we gather fruits for the sharing.

However, an inability to step back and to ponder will have an impact on the world we live in. Recently, a CEO of an insurance company was shot dead in broad daylight in cold blood. Some young people have taken to social media to hail the murderer as a hero. Maybe this phenomenon suggests a normalisation of violence amongst the young but what is evident is a loneliness and emptiness in society that provides a fertile ground for a narcissistic glorification of the self and reflects a loss of the sense of the sacred.

Hence, rather than focussing on giving material gifts perhaps we can come away with the idea of making ourselves as gifts to others by our sincerity, our caring and our love. Have you ever as a parent or an adult experienced this? Your child did something incredibly stupid and in a moment of anger you punished your child? Or your wife said something which offended you deeply and in an uncontrollable rage you land your hands on her? Later you regret and you try to make up for it by buying a gift? Can you imagine what your child or your spouse would have liked? A present or you being present?

You know the answer to that question. To be present to others in a lost and lonely world is a gift far beyond any material gain. We can become gifts of love and patience to others. You see, the shepherds were not only the first visitors, they also became the first missionaries. It is not impossible to walk their footsteps. To be the Gospel, the path forward is to move beyond an obsessive focus on the self. Contemplating a humble and helpless Child invites us to marvel that what lies in the manger is none other than the mighty Saviour of the world. O come, let us adore Him.

Christmas Vigil Mass Year C 2024

Some of you may have been celebrating that it feels like Christmas is over already. There has been much excitement that when the event finally arrives, we are already exhausted. Notwithstanding how we feel, the liturgy bids us to remain at the cusp of Christmas proper. It is the Vigil Mass, where we are given a sense of what is to come. Isaiah proclaims a message of consolation for those who are waiting for the Saviour to be born. For the Gospel, we had to choose the shorter version that excludes the genealogy of Jesus. The simple reason is, reading it in Mandarin, I would have murdered every single one Jesus’ ancestors, AGAIN.

History appears to be central to the event that will take place closer to midnight. For the Vigil, we stay with the genealogy of Jesus. Its genesis begins with Abraham. The entire list of names is not a Litany of the Saints. Rather it is a salad mixture of saints and sinners. An important note is that many of them may have been great leaders but even then they too had been waiting for salvation to dawn upon them. It is indeed a history of frailty where the constant remains a God who desires to save. The ancestry presents Jesus as the ultimate commitment of God to the history of salvation. Jesus Christ is the long-awaited Messiah, the anointed one, the Saviour.

At the 4th Sunday of Advent, we highlighted Mary’s pivotal role in the drama of salvation. Now we turn our attention to Joseph. Learning of Mary’s pregnancy, he wanted, as an honourable man, to spare her the indignity of being accused as an adulteress. Instead he chose to discreetly break off the marriage. But God has other plans. Through a dream, the angel directed Joseph not to forsake Mary but instead Joseph is informed that the Child of his future wife had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and given a name which means God saves. That plan requires Joseph to lend his name to the Child. In summary, up until and including the Vigil, everything has been in preparation to welcome the Saviour. In other words, the Vigil encapsulates the Advent of alert and anticipation of Christ’s coming.

According to a British writer, GK Chesterton, he mentioned something about drawing a line before Christmas itself. For him, the very essence of any festival is that it should break in rather brilliantly and abruptly, that at one moment, the great day is not and the next moment, the great day is. It explains why there is a sense of penitence which includes a kind of purification, that is, our souls are scrubbed in order for us to fully appreciate and receive Christ coming at Christmas. This penitential principle preserves us from a kind of entitlement that we are now accustomed to. For example, if each day is celebrated as if it were a birthday, after a while, when the birthday comes, it will no longer be special.

It makes a lot of sense that the Church gives us Laetare Sunday during Lent and Gaudete Sunday during Advent. There is value in anticipation because hope springs from absence of grace especially when one is surrounded by sin. Perhaps this is where Christmas becomes a challenge for so many of us. We no longer believe in sin. Or maybe this statement has to be modified. We are somewhat familiar with sin but we do not think of it as such a big deal.

If the Catechism we have been taught holds true, then the line for Holy Communion should be shorter. Why? When we miss Mass on a Sunday we generally do not receive Holy Communion the next Sunday because we have been taught that to do so, it means that we need to go for Confession first. The truth is that many of us have no problem “waiting” until the penitential service to confess the sin of missing Masses. In other words, sin is sin but yeah, they are not that crucial. It can wait. So in the meantime we get on with the reception of Holy Communion.

Ask this question, who are we waiting for? A Saviour. But why do we need a Saviour if we are sinless? Thus, we have to recover this wonder of waiting which comes from a repentant heart. For if we do not, then our attitude towards Christmas will always be of an entitlement. It is time to celebrate and so, come hell or high water, we are entitled to celebrate. And we will. In the meantime, a season pregnant with a joy that comes from an appreciation of the salvation won for us will be nothing more than just an excuse for us to have a good time.

A good time is just that. It satisfies temporarily but it will never fill the divine emptiness which God our Lord has put into our souls. Our hearts will remain restless until they have found Lord. A good time is great but allowing Christ to come into our hearts is best for the souls. O Emmanuel, You are our King and judge, the one whom people await and their Saviour. O come and save us, Lord our God.

Christmas Mass of the Day Year B 25th Dec 2023

We have arrived at the “final” Mass for the Solemnity of Christmas. The Vigil last evening was the first of four Masses. Each Mass has been allocated its own set of readings to assist us in contemplating Christ’s birth. The Vigil taken from Matthew’s Gospel focused on the genealogy of Christ. The Midnight Mass spoke of Christ’s humble birth through Luke’s Gospel. The Mass at Dawn continues with the narrative surrounding the birth of Christ that ended with the Shepherd’s visit. The Mass of the Day with its Gospel from John makes the connexion creation and God’s salvific action through the Incarnation. At the same time it also highlights the true cost of discipleship.

The evangelist John does not have the Infancy Narratives that are found in both Matthew and Luke. The language is poetic but more than that, it is spiritually symbolic because it copies the Book of Genesis by using the same words, “In the beginning…”. The Evangelist draws us into the drama of creation by bringing us back even before the advent of time to illustrate that the Logos, already present when time and space were created, is now the Word made flesh.

The Evangelist quickly introduces the Baptist whose sole purpose was simply to be the precursor to the Light. Before the Word was made flesh, the humanity only knew the Laws. As the 2nd Reading reminds us, if in the past God spoke to us through the Prophets, He now speaks to us through His Son.

There is not a hint of sentimentality in the 4th Gospel but it is still most powerful because it goes into the very purpose of Christ’ birth at Christmas. Jesus is how the Father would speak to us and to those who accept Him, He gives power to become His children. In Christ, we have a secure path to the Father because no one has seen the Father except the Word made visible.

Caught up in the celebration, we might have difficulties appreciating that God has spoken to us through His Son. Thus, if we remove all the partying and the Christmas paraphernalia prior to 25th Dec, we may be able to appreciate better what Christmas stands for. Why? For even 24th Dec remains a part of Advent, the period that prepares for Christ’s birth and properly the season of Christmas begins only on 25th itself. How many of us can wait until 25th itself to begin our Christmas celebration? Practically nobody and in fact, by today, Christmas proper, many of us would have had enough—drinks, food and parties. Some malls are already dismantling their Christmas décor in favour of Chinese New Year trinkets.

What is most jolting are some of the days organised after Christmas. Tomorrow is the Mass of St Stephen. In every sense of the word, he is called Proto-Martyr. It is true that he was stoned to death post-Easter but right after Christmas the Church commemorates St Stephen, sending a loud and clear message on the link between Christmas and discipleship. To become children of the Father and brothers and sisters to Christ, the cost of discipleship is real. In fact, just three days after Christmas and two days after St Stephen’s, we encounter the “comites Christi”, (companions of Christ) the Holy Innocents whose very short lives gave unique witness to Christ.

Fun and frolic belong with Christmas. We ought to celebrate Christ’s birth because the Bridegroom is with us. But Jesus Himself told the Disciples, the days of fasting will come when the Bridegroom will be taken away. If we play hard, then we should remember to pray hard, that is, by keeping an eye on Christ for Who He is and what He represents. He is the Light that shines in darkness. And we must never forget how pervasive the darkness of sin can be. Even then, we should be prepared to follow the footsteps of John the Baptist in bearing His light and bringing His love to others through our witnessing meaning that sometimes we may even have to pay with our very own lives. But losing our lives is not a loss. Instead, martyrdom is a gain as St Irenaeus used to say, “God did not tell us to follow Him because He needed our help, but because He knew that loving Him would make us whole”. The real value of Christmas is counting the cost of the Cross, the true price of discipleship. Enjoy life because it is a gift to us but always keep close to Christ and His Cross.

Christmas Vigil Mass Year B 24th Dec 2023

We begin with the end. In Matthew 28: 20, in Galilee at the appointed mountain, the Evangelist concludes the Gospel with the promise of Jesus Himself that He would be with the Church until the end of time. Tonight, Matthew’s genealogy which meanders through characters and plots is truly a testament of God’s promise to be “Emmanuel”, that is, to be with us. Jesus fulfils the promise made to Israel and from Israel to the world.

As the night skies over Gaza light up with bombs and while the military strikes continue in Ukraine, we might ask ourselves how present God is to humanity when at the moment that Christ’s birth is celebrated, the world seems to be tethering on the brink of global annihilation.

In this moment of uncertainty and confusion, the Gospel today is our source of hope. When our tired and harassed spirits look for rest from the relentless struggles surrounding the world, we should contemplate the genealogy. It is through Joseph’s ancestry that we come to know that the Child, born of Mary, is the one who will save us from our sins. The list of names in Jesus’ ancestry reads like a litany sinners rather than a litany of saints. Through these colourful characters, the genealogy truly represents the history of a God who is forever the faithful Saviour. The messy imperfection reflected in the family tree is a strong reminder that we should never give up hope. Whatever struggles we have in our family’s past, with ourselves in our concrete present and in our encounters with the world, we can hold onto Christ.

In the context of hope as we cling onto our Lord, what the Vigil Mass teaches most is the value of praying. A vigil is a time of patient waiting for the Lord to make known His salvation. What is patient waiting if not prayer? It is not easy because we are used to a sort of mechanical and logical thinking. We expect life to behave like it is a well-oiled machine when in reality, life does not always obey logic. On the contrary, what the genealogy of Jesus has revealed is how unwieldy life can be. What makes life less tolerable or harder to bear is a confusion and an expectation that we have imported into our spiritual world.

As more of normal everyday existence is organised by artificial intelligence, we have come to expect that the concept of immediate result or instant solution can be applied to life. What we demand in life is exemplified by the electrical switch. Clap your hands and the light is turned on. Press a switch and the coffee is brewed. Turn on the tap and water flows out. The expectation of immediacy can actually deepen our anxiety or as the Teochews call it, “pek chek”. When solutions are not immediate, one is easily overwhelmed and afflicted by minor complications that one becomes depressed and gives up hope. We are readily affected by inconvenience. The proof is how we complain but most of all, how one simply stops praying. How many of us have given up praying because the solution is not immediate? Why pray when nothing seems to work?

We assume that life should follow a mechanical trajectory or that it should always be smooth sailing. More so when we pray. We have come to expect that God will bend to our will and things must turn out well. But Christ’s ancestral history reveals an important truth. Life is definitely messed up and nobody is born without a history. And crucially, when we find ourselves in such Prayers might not solve our problems because they do not guarantee solutions. Yet, no matter how dire a situation can be, darkness cannot overcome the Light. In fact, darkness has never overcome the Light. Considering the numerous flaws of the kings and leaders of Israel, what is crucial to note is that every single character is a milestone along the path of salvation. Each ancestor of Christ was a witness to the history of salvation—each one stood as a solid reminder that creation, since the beginning of time, has been waiting for the Saviour to come.

Indeed, our wait is coming to an end. The Vigil beckons us to place our trust in God who will keep His promise to us. What we need to do, and do constantly, is to keep praying as St Paul had counselled. If peace eludes or escapes the world, then it just means more prayers are needed for the cosmos to recognise, acknowledge and accept the Prince of Peace. However, we pray not only for answers but also for the patience to wait for God to reveal His salvation. In any situation which is difficult and tough, more prayers are needed, not less, for the clarity of God’s light to shine through.

The Vigil signals that the end is in sight. God’s love through the birth of the Saviour shows forth His great love for humanity. So, today, as we enter into the spirit of Christmas, we dare to rejoice because God is in charge. We are joyful because God will prevail. We are exultant in appreciation and joyful in praise because Christ, the true Holy Communion between God and humanity, is born tonight. We are happy because the God who is with us is also the God who saves us.

Christmas Mass Year A 2022

We all like numbers. The bigger the better. Most Solemnities have at most two Masses—the “Vigil Mass” and the “Mass of the Day”. Christmas has four and each of the Masses has different sets of readings. The “Vigil Mass” and “Mass during the Night” are both celebrated on 24th Dec with the latter (second one) being as close as possible to midnight. On 25th Dec, the two celebrations are “Mass at Dawn” and the “Mass during the Day”. Having that many Masses lined up surely suggest that the Solemnity of Christmas ranks higher than Easter but it does not. The four Masses simply help us to appreciate different aspects of Christ coming in the flesh.

We anticipate Him at the Vigil Mass. There is an air of expectation. In fact, the Gospel is possibly one which is most dreaded because of the tongue-twisting names of Jesus’ ancestors. However, its intent is to prepare us for His birth. Both the Antiphon and the Collect remind us of His coming and how we can be confident in facing Christ as our hearts are gladdened by the joy of salvation.

As we proceed further into the heart of the night, the Good News or the Gospel proclaims that the awaited Saviour has come into the world. The Collect contrasts the enveloping darkness with the bright Light of Christ as Luke’s Gospel presents us with the familiar narration of the annunciation by the angels. The hosts of heaven appearing to the shepherds in the field urge them hasten to the City of David, where they shall find the Lord and Saviour of the world born and laid in a manger.

The next morning, in stillness of dawn, we savour the radiance of Christ’s birth. Our prayer is that through His brightness which illuminates our minds, our deeds too may shine with the brilliance of His presence. The simple petition is that our actions will match with our confession and the Gospel continues from the previous night with the shepherds as they visit Mary, Joseph, the new-born King and they worship Him. If the previous celebration is called the Mass of the Angels, this makes it the Mass of the Shepherds.

Finally, in full light, we celebrate the Mass during the Day. Also called the Mass of the King, we enter deeper into the mystery of the Incarnation. The Gospel is taken from the beginning of John’s Gospel. The Collect reminds us that as God humbles Himself to share in our humanity, He restores our dignity by giving us all a share in His Divinity.

These four Masses give us a bigger picture of the mystery of God’s Incarnation in order that we can be saved. Is there a smaller picture?

There is. We have two challenges to face. The first is the loss of the ability to anticipate as indicated by the Vigil Mass. Waiting is a part of life. Waiting for a fruit to ripen to enjoy its fullness and sweetness is a good analogy. Those who eat an unripe fruit know its taste is sharp and bitter. The dilemma we face is a widespread loss of the art of anticipation. In fact, we have forgotten this important virtue of patient waiting and instead, we demand instant gratification.

There seems to this tide of “I want it now” that can never be stopped. In fact, some priests have tried. For example, carols are usually like “Angels we have heard on high”, or “The First Noël” are supposed to be sung only about this time but they are played or carolled early on because we no longer make a distinction between Advent Season and Christmas Season. For many Advent is Christmas. A priest who dares to insist on not singing until the 12 days of Christmas, which starts on 25th Dec, will be considered a wrong kind of a priest. Does the inability to delay gratification explain why we struggle to abstain from meat on Friday or fast during Lent? It may even clarify why co-habitation has become the norm rather than waiting for the proper Sacrament of Marriage to take place first? This loss of anticipation may have also contributed to our loss of the sense of heaven. The result is an entitlement that we must be happy in this life or not at all.

There is always “suffering” while we wait and that is not because we are deserve to suffer. Our myopia is to focus on the pain without realising that in delaying gratification, we increase the beatitudes of our Christmas joy. Wine are aged to perfection only if we were patient. Heaven requires waiting but we are too eager for it. And it brings us to the description of St Bernard for the coming of Christ.

His description of the 3 Comings can help us appreciate our second challenge. According to the “Doctor Mellifluus”, He came in the past, He is with us now and we await His return. It helps to think of Him being with us as both objective and subjective realities. Historically He came and that is the objective fact of the Birth of Christ about 2000 years ago. But currently and personally, where is His subjective presence? The popular Christmas song: “Christmas isn’t Christmas till it happens in your heart” captures this pointedly because further in the lyrics, it says “give your heart to Jesus and you discover when you do, that is Christmas for you”.

An essential element of anticipation is to prepare the heart for Christ so that He can also take flesh in our souls. We need Him not only because He is our personal Saviour. We need Him because the world needs Him through our thoughts, words and actions. We can be caught up with the necessary festivities of commemorating His historical coming, forgetting that the vital preparation that is here and now, must also take place. At Christmas, the God the Father invites us to respond generously to His Son’s coming. Jesus, even as He lies in the manger, is saying: “Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share a meal at that person's side” (Revelation 3:20). The best Christmas response is the ancient prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, come. Maranatha.

Christmas Day Dawn Mass Year C 2021

If there is anything we can say of Christmas Midnight Mass, it is that the birth of the Child Jesus has nothing to do with us, that is, it has nothing to do with our merits. Nothing of what we do merit Christ’s coming except perhaps the “felix culpa”—the “happy fault” of Adam that won for us so great a Redeemer. At least that was the sentiment of Paul writing to Titus. God’s mercy is extended to us through the cleansing waters of baptism and the rebirth through the Holy Spirit. This ties in with the Gospel.

The observant Jews, proud of their ceremonial purity, despise the shepherding class for their lack of religious integrity—in short, shepherds cannot fulfil many of the pious obligations. These marginalised few became the first visitors and the first missionaries. The shepherds, response to this privilege of seeing the newly born Lamb of God, thereafter, rejoiced by bearing witness to God and spreading the Good News of the birth of the Saviour.

That we now move within this new normal matrix of exclusion of the unvaccinated should give pause for some reflexions on how we ought to see God in the marginalised and those whom we do not ever think that God could be present to them. Indeed, it is the dismissed or the discarded who have need of salvation. Those who are healthy do not need a doctor and so to these, the excluded, to them is born a Saviour. What does that mean?

In recent past, a point that has been hammered concerns the in-built missing piece which is the universal feeling of incompleteness. This is a natural deficiency which is not a sign of imperfection. Instead it points us to the completion which can only supplied by a Saviour. Our hunger or yearning for wholeness is like a compass directing us towards God for only He can save us.

However, human history is littered with attempts to provide the total solution to our passion and aspiration. Ideologues are quick to seize on this human need for a Saviour as they try to provide Man with the “total solution”. A good example within our living memory is communism. It was proposed as the answer to Man search for the “material equilibrium” that we had when Adam and Eve were in paradise. We should be able to create the heaven of shared abundance we yearn for through the forced distribution of private wealth. Then there are rationalists who believe that “reason” could supply the solution to humanity’s ills and yet in the last century, the same “reason” or logic purchased two great devastating wars for the world. Presently science and technology have been proposed as the saviour we have been waiting for, threatened that we are by climate change and a global pandemic. We are driven, in an age of instant gratification, to search for wholeness through our sensual pleasures—food, drinks, sex or drugs as if these alone can satiate our cravings for fulfilment. There is a dissatisfaction arising from the failure of expectation that has compelled some to embrace different psychological fads and herded a few to experiment with Eastern mystical traditions.

In the emergent light of dawn, the Angels’ message to the Shepherds teaches us one thing. For as early as St Ignatius of Antioch, an early Church Father, the Eucharist was spoken of as the “Medicine of Immortality”. This itself directs our attention to whom we truly need. Jesus is the only Saviour who is the perfect fit for the missing piece in us. We long to be saved but communism, rationalism, technology, psychological techniques, sensual pleasures or even esoteric religions are never going to be the final solution to what we want. As the slogan goes. “No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace”.

Whether the world likes it or not, the true and not just true but the only answer to Man’s search is Jesus. And so, if the world continues to search for the missing piece, then the ministry of the Angels continue. They announce to the world that we have a Redeemer. The only thing for us to do, as the Shepherds did, is to give ourselves to the Angels’ message that a Saviour has been born which consequently requires a match between what we proclaim and how we live. These are basic nuts and bolts of an evangelical or missionary life so that from Christ-bearers we shall also become Christ-givers. Like the Angels we give the message to the world that their search for the missing piece will be fulfilled by Jesus the Christ. Blessed Christmas.

Christmas Midnight Mass Year C 2021

What is the standard check-in time for hotels? More or less, it is stated at 3 pm. How would you feel if you went to a posh hotel and the room is not ready at 4 pm? A hotels is supposed to be synonymous with hospitality. The midnight Mass gives us a line which might sound like the inconvenient experience in a swanky hotel where the room is not ready at the appointed time.

So, when Luke notes that there was no room for Joseph and Mary in the inn, there is more to it than meets the eye. This detail is more than symbolic for just as well that the Holy Family was not housed in any inn because we would have lost the Eucharistic symbolism.

She wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. Many Churches carry the custom of placing the little Baby in the manger during the various Christmas Masses. It is such a heart-warming tradition. We know that a manger is a trough or tray used for feeding farm animals. If they took shelter in a barn, then the manger would have been fabricated from wood. If they settled in a cave, it more likely that the trough would have been moulded from clay or hewn from stone. Wood or stone, the connexions are clear. The manger made from wood shows us the future of the Cross. Thus, the Child laid in the manger will one day be the stretched on the Cross. In built, a manger is also shaped like an open coffin which reminds us of how the Child will one day lie in a tomb to await His Resurrection. More importantly, as the cattle gather to feed on the hay, so too will we surround the altar to feast on the Body and Blood of the Child whose destiny is to feed us in order to save us.

The Gospel context is clear for us at this midnight Mass. A Saviour is born for us. The lack of shelter may be explained by the fact of that a census was taking place but it serves to remind us that even before His birth, He was already rejected and later on, He would be humiliated on the way to Calvary. His sacrifice will ensure that we shall have the possibility to live forever. A question which we might ask is this: For all that He has given and done for us, what are we willing to sacrifice for Him?

It is not an easy question to answer and it does sound like a mean question to ask. On this most serene of nights, it feels like a lecture and a shame. The truth is no one is seeking an answer for now. It is after all Christmas—a time when we should be moved deeply by the mere fact that tonight the Prince of Peace makes His appearance.

According to historical records in 1914, deep in the trenches stretching from Flanders to France, opposing soldiers in World War I laid down their arms and enmity in order to savour the peace that descended on them during Christmas. In fact, this frowned upon ceasefire provided a moment of hope and joy for the beleaguered soldiers in the trenches. For a few brief but magical hours, men from both sides of the line shared food, sang carols, played games while the guns lay silent. Though enemies to each other, the respite came from their shared faith in the Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of kings and the Prince of Peace.

Through that miserable wintery fog, there arose a profound recognition that Christmas comes to us because the world is despondent. In itself, this statement is truly an understatement. Why? The world has been in anguish and agony ever since the Fall—ever since Adam bit the apple. Last year we were constrained from being present in person. This year the enquiries that came in were expectant but also apprehensive. Anxiety has surrounded this Advent waiting. Will the same restriction be imposed at the last minute? We desperately need the assurance that God still cares for us. In the dead silence of the night, never mind that we may be unable to even love God, we are given a great gift, that is, the Son of God Himself.

Whatever our disposition, the Prince of Peace bids us make room for the only peace that will ever restore our balance and heal our relationships. Sadly, in terms of our devotion, we cannot even come near to the Crib because we have to avoid crowding. But maybe let the symbol of the manger—the symbol of the Cross and Resurrection—be a timely reminder to us that as we receive the Body and Blood of Lord, He is coming to us. We should worship Him as He makes His home in our hearts—that where we go, we now bring Him along. Blessed Christmas.

Christmas Dawn Mass 2020

I was privileged to make a retreat in a Jesuit vineyard. It was just about the beginning of spring and it was cold. In the whole of Australia, that was the only place that has a chapel with a crypt underneath it. Living almost permanently under the pollution of light in our country, one never realises how bright the stars can be. I walked out one very dark night, looked up into the sky and saw a streak of bright sparkles, otherwise, known as the Milky Way. Captivating as it was, I did not linger long because my mind drifted to the crypt under the chapel on my left which gave me goose bumps.

Today’s Dawn Mass reminded me of that night. Too bad we had no Midnight Mass for that would have given us an idea of what was involved. In the material darkness of the night, we are reminded that there is a darkness more pernicious than just the absence of light. It is a darkness of the mind and of the soul, a spiritual darkness which only Christ the Light can dispel.

The Dawn Mass however shows us to whom the Light first appeared. On the very night of the Saviour birth, there were shepherds out in the cold and as dawn was breaking, a bright light appeared, and an angel announced to them the birth of the Messiah. The annunciation ended with a heavenly chorus that inspired our Gloria, a prayer recited or sung at Mass on feast days and solemnities.

Our notion of the shepherds has possibly been glamorised over the centuries. Almost all of the pastoral figurines we have in our crib sets would show one of them humbly shouldering a sheep whilst carrying a staff. Why not? After all, our image of Jesus is that of the Good Shepherd which actually proves the point of romanticisation. What is more? The Pope asked the pastors to smell of the sheep. But shepherds were the outcasts of the community—socially ill-fitting and religiously rejected. They were considered unclean for both a social setting and the Temple worship. If we need a modern copy, they were the “Banglas” or “Nepalis”[1] of their time for they took on the manual tasks of a labour undesired.

It is to this group of the unwashed masses, that the Gospel of salvation was first proclaimed. There are two ways—ad extra et ad intra—to approach this message and both reveal how extensively merciful God is in His salvific will.

Ad extra, Christmas should make us think of those whom society would deem as undeserving of salvation. Broadly speaking, we may have focused too narrowly in terms of “giving attention to”. For many of us, the Christmas spirit is to think of those whom we seldom have a second thought for. Perhaps this explains the “feel good” factor in some of the things we do. For example, once a year, as an expression of CSR—corporate social responsibility, companies will rush to distribute aid to the poor because it elevates their social standing or people who donate feel good that they have given attention to those at the margin. Many of the homes can be choosy at this time saying that they do not need your extra fruitcakes, used clothes, or hampers. Better still, they do not want KFC. Focussing on the poor is good but it is more than just economic attention. In the same way, we also take a closer look at people whom we may have neglected over the months. Our parents, our spouses, and our children. But, have we been so taken up by the material necessities of life that we have forgotten that people need more than just corporeal care and concern? Or even emotional support. All these ministrations, crucial as they are, they do not touch the heart of the Gospel message and that is redemption and salvation. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Jesus Christ the Saviour, not the teacher, not the prophet, not the guru and definitely not the therapist.

Thus, the question is this: “Who needs the good news of salvation brought to them?". "Who needs to know that Jesus Christ the Saviour is born?".

A question like this can be deceptive because we tend to think ad extra meaning that we gladly scan for those who need to be saved but what about ad intra. Most of us are comfortable with the idea that there are people out there to be saved but can be genuinely obtuse when it comes to ourselves. Am I in need of salvation? Do I need to be saved or only others do?

The amazing thing about us is that we seem to measure “evil” in the extreme like murder or serial killing. I have read a quip which says, “If you want to look thin, stand next to a fat person”. My apologies if it comes across as “fat-shaming” because that is not the intention. The point is, “How good are we if compared ourselves with the depraved in order to feel good about ourselves?”. Since I am not killing anyone or stealing money like Najib had done, then I must be pretty decent.

Depravity is never a reliable measure. We should glance upwards for our benchmark. God created us in His image, and this is where we all fall short, again and again. It is the perfection of God that we are supposed to live up to. That scale no one can ever measure up to on his or her own, not even Mary, the immaculately conceived Mother of Jesus. It is only with God’s grace that we do.

While the vices of sin are many, what is more deceptive is when we do not recognise that we need to be saved. One of the things which the pandemic has uncovered is this blindness. Apparently, modern pagans that we are, according to Fulton Sheen, we have all been immaculately conceived and the only default setting we have is to rely on our own devices[2] failing to realise that God alone is our Saviour.

The very appearance of the angel to the shepherds reminds us that no one is exempt from God’s salvific will. Everyone needs to be saved. As the shepherds hurried to welcome the new-born King, let us join them, recognising that we, like the rest of mankind, need salvation. God has given us His Son, Jesus Christ to be our Saviour. Glory to God in the highest.

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[1] Precisely! It comes across so wrong to use them as examples and yet, our foreign workers are the ones who bear the brunt of the dirty, dangerous and difficult work that no citizens in the “right frame of mind” would want to do.

[2] A statement like this might sound anti-science and definitely fatalistic but it is not. We ought to use our God-given talents to do what is necessary. But we should never lose sight that God alone is our Saviour.

Christmas Masses 2019

There are four Masses linked to the Solemnity of Christmas and its Vigil. Each Mass has its own set of reading and the flow from one Mass to the other in such a manner as to help contemplate the immensity of the Birth of the Christ.

In the Vigil Mass of Christmas Eve, we hear the proclamation of the genealogy of Jesus which is taken from Matthew’s Gospel. Apart from establishing the pedigree of Jesus, we are also introduced to the circumstances surrounding His birth as it was made known to Joseph. 

The second Mass should be at Midnight if we were to adhere to the tradition of honouring the symbolic hour that our Saviour was born. He was born at “midnight” in Bethlehem and as the Gospel is taken from Luke, it is called the Mass of the Angels because a host of heaven announced His birth to the Shepherds. Midnight is appropriately the time to begin this Mass because it emblematically parallels the spiritual condition of man that at the darkest moment of his need, the radiance of the awaited Messiah burst in. The Responsorial Psalm echoes this by announcing that “Today a Saviour has been born to us: He is Christ the Lord”.

The third Mass is celebrated at Dawn. As the sun rises, the Son of God, the Light of the World dispels the darkness of sin and death. “This day new light will shine upon the earth; the Lord is born for us”. It is called the Shepherds’ Mass as they, after hearing the Good News, hastened to Mary and Joseph to pay homage and worship the Child in the manger. After their visitation, the shepherds joyfully proclaim the Gospel to others.

Finally, the fourth Mass is celebrated in the fullness of daylight to illustrate that the promised Son of God has been revealed to the whole world. Indeed “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God”. John dispenses with both the narratives of Matthew and Luke, choosing rather to mirror the first book of the Old Testament. The first sentence “In the beginning” echoes the Book of Genesis as it highlights the new creation ushered in by the coming of Jesus. John emphasises the divine origin of the Messiah as he moves quickly into human history drawing our attention to this new-born King of kings. As the Gospel suggests, all nations are invited to worship Him. Even angels are commanded to do so as we hear in the 2^nd Reading. Thus, it is also known as the King’s Mass.

Christmas Vigil Mass

What is the significance of the Vigil Mass? For many people, Christmas has been romanticised. Yet, continuing from last Sunday’s focus on Joseph, the vigil continues to highlight how critical the decision of this Just Man was to the historical outcome of the birth of the Messiah. Joseph gave legitimacy to the Son of God. It was into this tumult of an unexpected pregnancy and the movements of people that He entered. His introduction to human reality mirrors many whose lives are torn apart by political upheavals. In the case of Jesus’ birth, a foreign power dictating the mass migration of people. Since people were poor, they would have to walk mostly to their places of origin. All for what? Statistics? Definitely not. The counting was to be for the purpose of taxation and exploitation.

For us, the Vigil Mass is set at a practical time. There is still light out there. Will you have fulfilled your Christmas obligation? Yes, you will. But perhaps this prized practicality can lead us all into a deeper contemplation of the inconveniences that people who have no choice have to bear. And there are many amongst us—the workers who cannot go home for some reasons or other.

If “warmth” is what we desire, maybe the accent or the focus of this Mass on the plight of the Holy Family preparing for the birth of the Saviour might help us to be more accepting of those who have to suffer—especially the migrant poor and the displaced refugees. Heart-warming is a nice cosy feeling to have. The danger is that it may become insulating and as we say, “shiok sendiri” (smug kind of self-gratification). If anything, the physical struggle surrounding the stunning drama of Christ’s birth should also heighten our awareness that our welcome of our Saviour is also a welcome of those who are His brothers and sisters. “Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick and in prison”?

Go and enjoy your Christmas as you welcome the Lord. Start by being kinder on the roads especially when you need to travel. And if you did not know it, you really do not need to look far. Jesus is always near you.

Christmas Midnight Mass

What is the significance of celebrating Mass at midnight? Firstly, I am going to say something that some of you may not appreciate especially on this most hallowed of nights. To be honest, that would be the last thing I would like to do—piss you off. However, just hear me out.

We organise life according to a principle, which is quite logical, called convenience. Mod-cons is a word you sometimes hear about. Like switching on the lights and not having to start a fire rubbing two pieces of sticks. I am not bashing mod-cons. For example, when Asians (Malaysian/Singaporeans/ Filipinos as far as I have experienced) eat their rice on a plate (not in a bowl), they use a spoon. Others use a fork which is not really convenient, is it? Especially if the rice is soaked in gravy.

Convenience is a good. However, it remains an organising principle that must be weighed against other considerations. How many of you elderly folks here who feel “silenced” not because your children are bad or uncaring towards you? Rather, you are “silenced” by an overwhelming fear that your needs (legitimate ones) might inconvenience or trouble your children? To be fair, even the whining or wheezing complaints of yours might be indication that you just need a little bit more tender loving care. Who does not? Anyway, you do not want to disrupt their lives because you love them.

I have a question: Is it easier to go out and hunt for an appropriate gift or present from Singapore battling the horrendous traffic congestion across the Causeway than to pop into the local M&S to buy a ready-wrapped gift because they have an excellent return/exchange policy? How many stressed and time-strapped parents find it more convenient to lavish their children with the latest electronic gadgets? This expensive giving is definitely more convenient.

Discerning children, the operative word is discerning, might have trouble accepting convenience as the sole principle of care and concern. Over time they too might just use the same principle to place you in a home for the aged—convenient with periodic visitations.

Midnight Mass for some places is merely a name of a Mass celebrated at a convenient time—like ours at 10pm. Imagine if the 2^nd Person of the Blessed Trinity looking down at the condition of humanity and remarking to the Father and the Spirit—not convenient. A drop of blood might just do the trick.

But, no. He came down—forgoing His Divinity, assuming everything that we are, except sin. Just as an aside, we actually labour under a misguided notion that sin is “natural” to who we are. (Usual coinage: I am only human). The truth is, man fell through sin yes, but man was not created in sin. So, whilst we sin naturally (as if it were characteristic of us), sin is not natural to us (because we were not created in sin and to sin).

Being one like us, in all things except sin, He could feel the burden of our sinfulness. Hence, He gave Himself to us as the food from and for heaven so that we will not forget where we fell from. His Body is the heavenly food that is needed for the journey to our supernatural homeland—heaven.

Imagine if Christ we to say—not convenient. Give it a thought. The inconvenience we suffer has a paedagogical value—how often have we prayed to God only when we need Him? But, when things are going well and it is inconvenient, we easily forget Him.

Thus, this Divine Condescension, that is, His “assumption” or the taking on of human inconvenience is to help us go to heaven. Next year, we might move the timing of this Mass to match its name: Midnight Mass—to announce that at the darkness hour of human need—God took flesh, at His inconvenience—to become God with us—Emmanuel. If God can suffer inconvenience for our sakes, the least we can do for Him to render Him the homage for so great a prize He paid for our salvation.

Christmas Dawn Mass

This Mass continues the Shepherds’ story. They were told by Angels that the Christ was to be born and so they had to find it out for themselves. Their visit confirmed the Angels’ message and they left, this group of marginalised shepherds, to announce the Good News of the Birth of the Lord. Their action, according to Luke’s Gospel, is God’s very own doing that the sending of the Saviour be publicly announced.

You will notice that our crib set is rather simple. There are no Magi at all, no personages of power and might. The Magi are over there still following the star and is no blending of Christmas with Epiphany there. 

There is something about this Epiphany to the Shepherds first than the Epiphany of the Magi representing the Gentiles. The Old Testament is replete with imageries of the shepherd. The greatest king of Israel was taken from amongst the sheepfold—King David. And when the shepherds failed the people, God Himself took on the role of the Good Shepherd—He leadeth me to restful waters to lie.

Should not the appearance of the King first be to those whose ministry resembles His?

Our Pope signs himself off as Pastor Pastorum—the Shepherd of Shepherds. We try to imitate Our Good Shepherd so that where the Church is, He is always to be experienced as being with us. Yes, I know, his poor shepherds and there are many of us, fail Him often but do not let that prevent you from going to Him.

This morning, let our thoughts stay with the extraordinary moment of bending before the Baby who is our very Good Shepherd. The first part of the Mass from the Gloria to the Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus is basically a liturgical rendition of the Gospel we heard just now. At the Holy, Holy, Holy, the Angel adores His Majesty. So, like the shepherds we do no better than to adore Him and also to remember that at Holy Communion, the King comes to be with us. 

The Shepherds did not just stay before the crib. They were filled with an overpowering joy that they had to proclaim what they had heard from the angels and have seen with their eyes. They are our first Evangelists. They have come to know and beheld His glory. We can imitate them, if not through our words, at least through our actions. Go the Mass is ended is not the end but the beginning of our Evangelii gaudium—the joy of bringing Christ to the ends of the world. Joy is powerfully attractive when it comes to showing the face of the Good Shepherd.

Christmas Mass of the Day

If you are here for this Mass, good for you. All the “festivities” are over which means you have come to ponder on the theological reason for His coming. The Gospel is possibly the most profound of all passages in Sacred Scriptures. It is rather dry—no angels, no shepherds, no brightly star shining, no swaddling clothes, no sheep or donkeys, no shepherds and not even Mary and Joseph, the necessary figures for this event but, it is no less dramatic as it brings us all into the back of the beyond.

In Loreto, the Holy House of Narazeth which was transported there, miraculously or not, depending on your credulity, at the altar, a Latin phrase is imprinted: “Hic verbum caro factum est”. Translated: Here the Word was made Flesh. This mirrors exactly the Gospel of John—that God who was in the beginning with God and was God, this God entered human history by taking on our flesh.

This is where John challenges us: Are we the innkeeper who turned away a heavily pregnant mother and her humble husband? He came to His own and yet they reject Him. But, to those who accept Him, He gave them power to be children of God.

The Collect at the beginning of Mass reflects our desire to meet up to John’s challenge: O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of the human nature and still more wonderfully restored it, grant, we pray, that we may share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.

In the beginning God created the world, now in Christ, He recreates the world and our cooperation with Him will make us sharer of His divinity. At every Eucharist, this admirabile commercium, the true Christmas exchange is repeated especially when the priest mixes a drop of water into the wine to be consecrated. He becomes one of us so that we may have His strength to walk and to work out our salvation. In an alternative preface, this commerce is pointed out: For through Him the holy exchange that restores our life has shone forth today in splendour: when our frailty is assumed by your Word, not only does human mortality receive unending honour but by this wondrous union, we too, are made eternal.

God wants to save each one of us. This wondrous exchange that Christ came to effect changes our being but not only that. It requires also a change in our doing. The requires our cooperation. As St Augustine reminds us, “God cannot save us without our consent”. 

As we come to venerate the Crib after Mass, let us bow down and bend low, asking for the grace not to turn away from His grace but to have the courage to cooperate with it for the salvation of our souls.

Finally, I have been labouring about “convenience” as a principle of organising our liturgy. When it is solely the principle we use, then the Masses will mean no more than a mere fulfilment of our obligation—duties we get them over and done with. But names are important. Would a loving father give her daughter such a name as Satania? Our Masses are named as Midnight, Dawn and Day Mass precisely because of what they symbolise. It behoves us to change the timing of our Masses so that they may help us appreciate more what they stand for—at the darkest moment of our need, God came to us; the rising of the sun exemplifies the Son of God dispelling the darkness of sin and death and finally, in broad daylight, we come to worship the King of kings.