What is man? (Christmas homily)

 What is man? What are we? What am I?

That may seem an airy question, but when you think about it, 

isn’t this at the heart of most of our wrestling?

We have political debates. Aren’t the laws and policies we consider statements 

about what sort of people you and I think we are? 

And want to be? 

There are challenges of technology that are no longer distant.

We already have cars and trucks that drive themselves.

How long before there are not just a few thousand, but millions?

Here comes Artificial Intelligence, which did not write this homily, 

and is not delivering it!

But I’ve started asking AI to do some of the research.

AI has already had a huge impact in 2025. Where will we be in 2030?

Meanwhile, there are diverging trends in spirituality:

a surge of people who call themselves “spiritual but not religious.”

That contributes to a decline in regular Mass attendance, 

baptisms, confirmations and Catholic weddings over time.

Our society is, in general, becoming more secular.

There is, however, some evidence of a smaller countertrend:

Some younger generations are seeking out the path of faith.

And younger Catholics are frequently more “traditional” 

than older Catholics.

It all comes back to the question I posed: who are we? 

Are we even a speck in a Cosmos that overawes us?

There are different answers to that question.

Islam says that our hope is an eternity of pleasurable proximity to God, 

yet who always remains entirely other.

Hinduism has varied, hopeful images, not much certainty.

Buddhism doesn’t believe in a personal God 

who creates or who can really be known. 

The Hebrew Scriptures uniquely tell us:

You and I are made in the image of God.

Judaism remains hopeful, still awaiting the Messiah.

And that brings us to the shocking uniqueness of this day.

Christ is born! 

God who is utterly beyond our grasp, 

leapt down from his throne, into the womb of Mary, 

and today was laid in her lap.

If it is true that Mary said “yes” to Gabriel in March – this is our Faith! – 

then it is true God and true man 

who gazes up at Mary now, from her arms!

God beholds her and she beholds God.

And when paupers and princes approach, she invites us to adore!

What is man? What are we?

God creates each and every human being 

with a destiny touching infinity.

And even more wondrous, 

God chose to make himself a brother to each of us.

During the four weeks of Advent, the other priests and I 

were addressing some big questions in our homilies:

Why Creation? What is this all about?

What went wrong? Why is there evil?

What is God doing about it all? Is there hope?

God’s Response – God’s First and Last Word – is Jesus!

Before God created and we rebelled, God knew he would come.

And this is the really astounding thing.

God, in becoming one of us, is not content 

Merely to put things back as they were.

You and I do not, as it were, return to the Garden.

Oh, and by the way, here’s where the Christmas Tree fits in.

Most people don’t realize that the Christmas Tree is a Biblical image.

It recalls both the Tree of Good and Bad that brought death, 

and also the Tree of Life.

The first Christmas Trees, in Germany centuries ago,

were decorated with apples and discs of bread.

The apple is easy enough to figure out. But why bread?

To represent the Holy Eucharist!

Jesus is the new Adam who faces the Tree of Death – the Cross.

And Jesus is that Bread that gives Eternal life!

Sometimes how we approach Christmas seems gaudy and over-the-top, 

but here is where it makes theological sense:

All the gold and glitter remind us 

that because God has entered time and become one of us,

This world isn’t merely dirt at his feet.

All Creation, and we especially, are being transformed.

As we profess: a new heavens and a new earth.

Whatever is perilous or discouraging around us, 

it is a fact that 

“For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,

and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,

and became man.”

On Christmas, you and I genuflect at these words in the Creed,

to pause to be astonished!

What is humanity? You are destined for the greatest possible grace.

Christmas is both the boldest promise and also a blunt invitation.

Nothing is forced on you and me. We choose.

Realize what Christmas offers you. 

In the shocking words of so many saints:

“God became man that men might become God.”