This past week, there has been a very powerful film called “The Human Flow” showing at both the Bloor Docs Cinema and the Toronto International Film Festival’s Bell Lightbox Theatre. “The Human Flow” is a movie by director Ai WeiWei that presents a powerful look at the plight of the world’s 65 million refugees. It shows the way in which so many human beings have been uprooted from their homes and wander the world aimlessly, often because they are regarded as mere objects and pawns in the world of international politics. This movie attempts to show how real human beings are effected and destroyed by the manner in which world politics have impacted their lives. Not since World War II have so many people been uprooted by events like civil war, global warming and the political unrest that has been unleashed by the greed and power struggles of the world’s elites. This past year, the St. Peter’s Parish Community became acutely aware of the tragedy of the world’s refugee crisis as after a long wait, the community welcomed the re-settlement family that we have sponsored through Project Hope. This beautiful family left Iraq because they were persecuted as Christians; only to find themselves in Syria as civil war broke out there. To this date, some of their family are stuck in Turkey, awaiting re-unification here in Canada. I am so grateful to the many members of our community who have worked tirelessly to welcome and support this wonderful family. What this movie “The Human Flow,” and our parish’s experience with a resettlement family, make so very clear is how powerless individual persons can be in the face of the world’s political arrangements that are negotiated by the powerful elites of this world. It can be tempting to feel only despair in the face of such a situation where the dignity of the human person is given so little concern.
Even for those of us who live in peaceful countries like Canada, the past year has left all of us feeling somewhat vulnerable to the whims of world leaders who have the potential of unleashing chaos around the globe. The threat of nuclear weapons, terrorist strikes and the crazy rhetoric of “My Country First,” have left us feeling the reality that the lives of all of us could be destroyed by the selfish and egoistic decisions of a few irrational and powerful individuals. We are all aware that there is evil in the world and that it has the potential to uproot and destroy life as we know it. We all hope for one who can save us and deliver us from this reality. We hope for one who will recognize the importance and sanctity of each individual human life.
We hear a little bit of this helplessness expressed in the Gospel at Midnight Mass which announces the birth of Christ the Messiah. Mary and Joseph have had their lives uprooted and disturbed by an order that was given by Caesar Augustus. Because Caesar wanted to measure his power and count his subjects for taxation, he orders a census of the entire world. Required to report to the city of their lineage, Mary and Joseph must return to Bethlehem in order to satisfy the longing of a world leader. On arriving in their hometown, they find it much like a refugee camp, overrun with people from around the district who have returned home to fulfill the commands of the political elites. Here, there is nowhere for the child Jesus to be born. Mary must give birth to Him in a barn, much as many refugee children are born in fields and temporary dwellings today. As the child is born, angels appear to shepherds in a field. The good tidings of humanity’s deliverance are announced by angels to the homeless shepherds who live in conditions that are very similar to those found in most refugee camps around the world today. Just as families live with their domestic animals in refugee camps around the world; so too the Christ child is born in a manger to announce God’s love for all people. The message of the angels to the shepherds is the Christmas message which we are called to hear today: “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim good news of great joy for all the people. For today in the city of David a saviour has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.”
What is the meaning of this Good News?
The significance of this message is profound. The message from God is that not one of His people will be forgotten. We are always His beloved children and God, through His Christ is always with us, no matter what. Tonight, Caesar Augustus is remembered only because he was emperor at the time of Christ’s birth. Today Caesar Augustus is powerless and others in the world wield power for but a brief moment. The true king, the one who is the Prince of Peace, Wonder-Counsellor, God-Hero and Father-Forever, continues to rule and to walk with us. Whatever we suffer in this life, Christ is with us, will not forget us and has overcome all worldly forces of evil, even death itself.
The message of the manger is that of the proclamation of the value of each and every human person to God who has created us to share in His life. Imagine how easy it would have been for Jesus to have been born as the son of Caesar Augustus. If He had done this, He could have used the many tribunals of the Roman Empire to announce His coming to humanity. It would have been much easier to believe that God was born as Caesar’s son than to believe that He was born in a barn in a little known town in the territory of Palestine. By His birth in a manger, Jesus announces that He has come to be with us no matter how poor or broken we are. The manger announces to those who are refugees that God is with them; it announces to us who are not refugees, that we are all brothers and sisters created for redemption by our loving Father. The manger proclaims the value of each and every human person and calls all of us to live as brothers and sisters created in the image and likeness of God.
The manger does not just announce the presence of God to those who are economically poor. The manger also stands as a symbol of our own hearts. We are all of us poor in one way or another. Our poverty may be the shame of an addiction, it may be loneliness, or the desire to be loved. Jesus the Saviour of the world wishes to come and be born in the hearts of every single human being this Christmas and throughout the year. Whatever the human poverty that we struggle with, the message that is brought by the angels is intended for each of us: “Do not be afraid, today is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord.” Pope Francis has stated this past week that the real message of Christmas is not “Merry Christmas,” but a very profound “Do not be afraid.” To all people, the message of Christmas is “do not be afraid,” God is with you. “Do not be afraid” you are a child of God with infinite value to your creator. “Do not be afraid,” God is with you in your struggle with addiction, loneliness and poverty. “Do not be afraid,” the struggles of this life, or sickness, or of loneliness will not be the last word spoken about you. The final word about all of us will be pronounced by Christ our Saviour. By the Word of redemption that is spoken by our Saviour’s life and death, we who have accepted Him as our Saviour will be raised up and share in His Kingdom— a Kingdom which will have no end. This Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Son of God who has come to announce that the powers of darkness and evil will ultimately be defeated by His loving Father. Jesus invites us to leave behind the works of darkness and to turn away from the power of evil which can sometimes take control in our own lives and decisions. Paul says it most beautifully in the second reading from Midnight Mass when he invites us to turn away from the worldly powers of darkness and to turn towards Christ and the ways of righteousness that he has brought into the world.
This is the second part of the Christmas message. Because Christ has appeared among us, we are invited to become His people and build His kingdom. We are to do this by not allowing the forces of darkness to rule our hearts. This means hoping that we can overcome addiction through His presence in our lives, that we can restore relationships of peace to our families, and that we can counteract the forces of our society by proclaiming the infinite value of each person through our words and actions. The parishioners of St. Peter’s do this in many small ways. Each weak a meal is offered on Monday evenings to those who might not otherwise be able to have a warm meal. This is not the entire solution to hunger in our neighbourhood, but is a part of it. Together with other Christian communities in our area, we see that a meal is available each day for anyone in our community who might need one. With others, we have done what we can to sponsor a resettlement family. Our community is home to one of the largest alcoholics anonymous programmes in the city. These efforts are just part of the solutions that we are all called to work towards. The response cannot just come from one parish community, but from all of us in our relationships and social interactions. The coming of Christ into our midst must remind us all that we are brothers and sisters and that each person has dignity and infinite value and must be respected as one made in the image and likeness of God. Because Christ has come to be with us in our difficulties and struggles, we are not to be afraid to build the Kingdom of God and encounter Him in all of our brothers and sisters in need. How we are to do this was beautifully portrayed in the Manger scene at the Vatican this year. Instead of a Christ child in the manger, there was a man in prison, one who was naked and in need of clothing and a refugee who was to be welcomed. Today, this is how Christ comes to us. It is how the same Christ comes to each of us in our brokenness.
There was another movie out this week about a group of refugees who were fleeing the forces of evil. It is called Star Wars— The Last Jedi. Movie theatres have been full this week as people have wanted to see this movie about a people who waited in hope to be freed from an evil empire by a figure of hope. This movie builds on many of the themes that fill churches around the world this Christmas evening. Christ is the one who has come into the world to deliver us from the forces of evil and all that we fear. Jesus is the Saviour who was born into poverty so that each of us might know the value that belongs to each person made in the image and likeness of God. Movies like Star Wars— The Last Jedi are so popular because they build on a theme that is in the heart of every human being— a longing for a Saviour who will show us that the struggles and fears of this world can be overcome. If it seems that so many people do not recognize Christ as this Saviour, while still longing for His coming into their lives; Christmas is the time for those of us who know Jesus as the Saviour to speak of His power and ability to deliver us and all others from all that we fear. This Christmas Day is the one day in the year that we stop everything to be with family and celebrate that God has come into our world to set us free. Jesus himself has become a refugee so that we might have a home with Him and the Father for all eternity. He has become a refugee so that we might never be homeless or alone. Our true home is with Christ. His coming among us invites us to work for peace and justice for all people here on earth, to walk unafraid with Christ at our side and to remember that by His coming among us, Jesus has made all of us citizens of Heaven with Him. The message of Christmas, and for all Christians each and every day of the year, is: “Do not be afraid, your Saviour is in your midst.”
Prayers and best wishes for all of God’s blessings this Christmas and throughout 2018.
Merry Christmas!
Fr. Michael McGourty
Pastor— St. Peter’s Parish— Toronto
