Christmas Day Sermon

What do you want for Christmas?

This is a question we might ask of someone teasingly or in desperation!

We all remember presents that were bought for us because of the thoughtfulness and care and time put into their purchase, expensive or not, but just well-thought out, and ‘just what we wanted’. We are flattered that someone, without my thinking too much about it, was spending their spare time in looking for a present that would suit me and their perception of me and my taste. So some presents stand out in our memory for the effort put in on our behalf. We treasure them because of who bought them as well as the present’s appeal to us. And we particularly put great stock in gifts of loved ones who have passed on.

As I look over the past year I think that the best gift we can ever give someone at Christmas and at every other time of the year too, is our presence. We can all think of people, maybe not a huge number, who were ‘there’ for us in our time of need. And we remember the sense of upset and disappointment at those we really expected and wanted to be there for us. We are also pleasantly surprised and immensely grateful to those who came up trumps in unexpected and unheralded ways.

We think of the latter when we were going through a rough patch in our domestic life, at school or beyond, or away from home homesick, and someone cheered us up no end, an unexpected but very welcome phone call or remembrance by letter when we were having an off-day. Someone visited us when we were lonely, sick or afraid. They may not even know to this day how much their presence even meant to us. We owe them for their consideration that they did not hurry away or look at their watch but stayed patiently and even silently with us. This is especially true of times of loss and bereavement.

Likewise this us a great opportunity for us to return the favour as it were, or carry forward people’ s generosity towards us, as well as being generous as the gospel reminds us to those who can never pay us back in kind.

We think ultimately that it was and is God’s presence among us as man that is His gift to us. No other religion can claim to have God-made-present in the Christ child at Christmas, or indeed Christ’s presence in the sacraments, above all the Holy Eucharist, and in His Word and also in on another.

To ‘be Christ’ to one another is the real challenge of our anointing at Baptism. As anointed ones we are ‘chrismated’, made ‘other Christs’. While Bishops and priests carry on their ministry of Christ by anointing with chrism, we too are anointed at baptism and confirmation, to be sent forth to bring Good News to others, and how can we do that unless we are ‘really present’ to them in a Christ-like manner of generosity with our time, our listening ear, our compassionate words and deeds of mercy and our constant reliable presence? In prayer before the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist we discover what it means to be really and truly present to one another as well. It says that ‘Christ went about doing good’ (Acts 10:38), and so must we.

This is the gift of PRESENCE at Christmas and all days, and therefore the greatest gift you can give is yourself not just in your presents but in your presence.

Happy Christmas