Homily for December 22, 2019

In her book, My Grandfather’s Blessings, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen tells how, on the Feast of Yom Kippur, the solemn Jewish day of Atonement, a rabbi preached a memorable sermon to his congregation on the theme of forgiveness and mercy.

Before he began, he walked out into the congregation, took his infant daughter from his wife and, carrying her in his arms, stepped up to the synagogue podium.  From her father’s arms, the little girl, all of a year old, smiled at the congregation.  Every heart melted.  The child turned towards her father and patted him on the cheek with her tiny hands.  As he began to speak, the little girl grabbed his nose and tugged.  Then she took his tie and put it in her mouth.  The entire congregation began to chuckle.  The rabbi rescued his tie and smiled at her; she put her tiny arms around his neck.  The rabbi tried to continue his sermon, but it was no use.  By now, the synagogue was filled with laughter.

The little girl had made the rabbi’s point.

He said, “Think about it.  Is there anything she can do that you could not forgive her for?”

As the members of the congregation nodded in recognition, the little girl reached up and grabbed his eyeglasses.  Retrieving his glasses and settling them on his nose, the rabbi hugged his little girl, laughing as well. 

Then the rabbi asked: “And when does that stop?  When does it get hard to forgive?  At three?  At seven?  At fourteen?  At thirty-five?  How old does someone have to be before you forget that everyone is a child of God?”

As the rabbi teaches a powerful lesson about forgiveness with the help of his infant daughter, God reveals in the Child of Bethlehem His Spirit of compassion and reconciliation.  In the birth of this Child, God touches human history and history is changed forever; in the birth of this Child, hope reigns, justice takes root, peace is possible. 

Everything and every one of us are re-created and transformed in the love of a God who humbles Himself to become a helpless baby; God becomes one of us so that, one day, we might become like Him.  May the blessings of this holy birth fill every season of our lives with hope in the mercy and justice of this Child. +