His Excellency,
The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., S.T.D.
Diocese of Belleville
Christmas Eve
December 24, 2025, 4:00 PM Mass
St. Teresa Parish
Out of the Manger and into the World
(This is the text as originally written. During the actual delivery, some passages were omitted and other comments were added spontaneously. Nota bene: This text has not been thoroughly proofread. Therefore, there may be errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation.)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
A central message of Christmas is that we must get Jesus out of the manger ad into the world. And Jesus Himself has told us how to do this. We must love God with our whole being and we must love our neighbors as we love our selves.
Do you know what the most popular Christmas song in the whole world is? Joy to the World? No. O Come all Ye Faithful? No! The Little Drummer boy? No! The MOST popular Christmas song in the world is Bing Crosby’s 1942 song. “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” from the movie, Holiday Inn. It was written by Irving berlin, who was Jewish like Jesus! But, instead of writing about Jesus, he wrote about the winter solstice and contributed significantly to the fast-paced transformation of the Christmas Holydays into the secular holidays.
Do you know what the most popular Christmas hymn is? (Songs we sing in church are hymns.) That would be “Silent Night.” “Stille Nacht” was first performed on Christmas Eve, 1818, at the the parish church of Oberndorf in Austria. A young Catholic priest, Father Joseph Mohr, wrote the poem “Stille Nacht. Halige Nacht.” On Christmas Eve, 1818, Father Mohr brought the words to the Nikolauskirche, (St Nicholas Church) organist Franz Xaver Gruber, who compose a melody for guitar accompaniment for the Midnight Mass, since a flood had destroyed the church organ.
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
These words are a good background for our reflection on our parish creche, our nativity scene and for our reflection on Luke 2:1-14.
St. Francis of Assisi created the first Christmas creche (nativity scene), in Italy in the 13th century to teach ordinary people the meaning of the story of the birth of Jesus. He put the infancy narrative in gospel of Luke together in a scene with the infancy narrative in gospel of Matthew. (Mark and John begin with the adult Jesus, without an infancy narrative.)
Luke and Matthew tell completely different stories for different audiences. Luke tells us shepherds visit the newborn Jesus: shepherds who are considered lowly, undesirables, untrust worthy, the rejected, the Anawim. A central them of Luke’s gospel is that Jesus came preeminently to care for the poor and the marginalized!
Matthew’s story has no lowly shepherds or singing angels. Instead, he has Maji (“wise men”) who came from the “east,” which represents the world beyond the Jewish community which has largely rejected Jesus. For Matthew, Jesus has come for whole world. He doesn’t bother to tell us where the east is. It is the non-Jewish world.
The Maji are not kings! (Wisemen? Scholars? Astrologers?) Nor does he say there are three of them from African, Asian, and European. We do not know their names. Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar are from tradition not the scripture. No mention of camels! They followed a star, an ancient symbol of something important happening on earth. The three gifts: gold, He is royalty, of the House of David, frankincense, He is “God with us,” Myre, oil of anointing, He will die a sacrificial death.
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Let us look at Luke’s words: “In those days emperor Caesar Augustus decreedthat the whole world should be enrolled each in his own town. Joseph went to Judea, to Bethlehem, the city of David, the King because Joseph was of the family of David.” (Prophecies said the Messiah would be a new David.) He takes Mary, his betrothed, who was about to have a baby. She gave birth to a son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, (foreshadowing the shroud of His burial) and laid Him in a manger, (French: manger “to eat,” a feed box, Jesus is our food; He nourishes us with the eucharist. (from the wood of the manger to the wood of the Cross)
“There was no room in the inn.” Was the stable like a homeless shelter?
The angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, and they were overcome with fear. The angel said, “Do not be afraid; I bring to you good news of great joy. Today in the city of David
a savior (new David Jewish people expected a political ruler, messiah)has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.”
His name was not Jesus Christ. No one ever called Him this. He was Jesus of Nazareth. “Christ,” Christus is the title for God’s annotated one, messiah. People asked, could Jesus be the Christ? In faith they affirmed Him as THE CHRIST! “And suddenly there were many angels praising God: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” These are the first words of the prayer we sing at Mass on Sudays and feast days,-like today.
We give glory to God when we get Jesus out of the manger and into the world by loving God with our whole being and loving our neighbor as ourselves. St. Nicholas, the 4th century Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, got Jesus out of the manger and into the world by his good works on behalf of the poor, especially children. Now, his appearance, name, and good works are associated with the “Santa Claus” of popular culture. Rev. Clement C. Moore, a New York Episcopal priest authored the poem, “A visit from St Nicholas” for his grandchildren. It is popularly called, “ ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” This poem and the tradition of gift giving have led many to think the Christmas is mainly for children. But this is not true! There are many ways in which children can get Jesus out of the manger and into the world. By being loving children to their parents, sisters, and brothers, sharing their toys with those who have none, being kind and friendly to students at school, and praying for peace and the end of conflict in the world.
Adults, however, have the greater responsibility for getting Jesus out of the manger and into the world. They do this by striving to be the best parents they ca be, by living the gospel in their places of work, by working to overcome conflicts and communication breakdowns in their marriage, by using money responsibly (giving to those in need), by seeking help if they are having difficulties in their personal lives, and by keeping prayer at the center of their lives.
Adults in positions of authority and governance have a greater responsibility for getting Jesus out of the manger and into the world. They are surely called to use their skills to transform our society by working foe better education, employment, and health car opportunities for all, by insisting that all people are treated with dignity and respect, by implementing laws fairly for the common good.
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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
In our day, there is an urgent need to get Jesus out of the manger and into the world as peacemakers. We should pray that they will redouble their efforts to end gun violence in our communities, put an end to antisemitism and racial prejudice and take seriously the challenge to end the terrible wars between Israel and the Palestinians,(in the land of Jesus’ birth) Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine, and temper alarming talk of war between the United States and Venezuela!
When I was growing up, my family had the custom on Christmas morning of listening to the Christmas section of Handel’s great oratorio, “Messiah” about Jesus, the Prince of Peace. We did this before opening our gifts!
One chorus of the words of Issiah the prophet has stayed with me through the years.
“For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon His shoulders.
And his name shall be called: wonderful, counselor, the mighty God,
the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace !” Amen alleluia!
If the Lord Jesus is to be the Prince of Peace, in our day, we need to get Him out of the manger and into the world, His message on Christmas Day and every day remains the same. Love God with your whole being. And love your neighbor as you love yourself!
Praised be Jesus Christ. Both now and forever. AMEN!