ICC Christmas Mass 2025: God is in the Mess of Our Lives
Homily by Romo Matheus Ro, SVD
Bible readings for the Mass (Christmas Mass during the day): Isaiah 52:7-10, Hebrews 1:1-6, and John 1:1-18
God is always with us, the joy and in the mess of our lives.
Inilah makna dari Natal: Tuhan, melalui kasih dan kerendahan hati Kristus, mengidentifikasikan diri dengan manusia, di dalam suka dan duka, kepada yang kaya dan miskin, kepada yang tertolak dan menderita. At Christmas, God comes to us to be with us and becomes one of us, Emanuel.
Mungkin hal ini tidak sering terjadi di Dallas, Texas, tetapi seringkali kita membayangkan, we dream of a winter wonderland Christmas like in Chicago. Or a perfect family Christmas dinner, dan hadiah Natal yang terbungkus dan tertata rapi di bawah pohon Natal. But the very first Christmas was anything but far from perfect and polished. The Son of God, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger, surrounded by the raw reality of life.
Anak Allah, dalam kemiskinan dan kesederhanaan-Nya, lahir di kendang hina dan kotor, dikelilingi dengan ketidaknyamanan:
the smell of barn and manure, a rough hay on the manger, and even the rejection at the motel to begin with. Pada Natal yang pertama, Son of god was born into our human messiness, untuk mengidentifikasikan diri-Nya dengan manusia yang diciptakan serupa dan segambaran dengan Allah.
Di zaman kita saat ini, saya yakin ada begitu banyak saudara/i kita yang bisa memahami suasana Natal pertama itu. Perhaps, some of us here today can resonate with the situation at that first Christmas. Maybe an immigrant family who are grappling with the fear of deportation. Maybe an ER nurse who is anxious on a late shift on Christmas Eve. Mungkin seorang angota militer sedang bertugas jauh dari orang-orang yang dikasihinya. Maybe a woman enduring the pain and challenge of medical procedure for cancer treatment. Atau mungkin seorang student yang kesepian dan sendirian di dormitory karena tidak miliki sarana untuk bersama keluarga pada Natal ini.
Each of these situations remind us that God comes to be with us in the middle of our lives, our joys and messiness. This is the profound truth of Christmas: In God’s infinite wisdom and boundless compassion, God sent the Only begotten Son, the Word incarnate, into our world, into our lives, not only once, but continually, sebagai sumber kasih dan cahaya Ilahi untuk menerangi hidup dan hati manusia yang kadang diliputi dengan kegelapan dosa.
Let us remember on thing this Christmas: Christ Jesus is with us here and now, Emanuel, in the joy and in the struggle, in the mess and in the holy.
As Pope Leo said yesterday “Out of love, Christ accepts poverty, simplicity and rejection, so that we human might learn to bear one another’s burdens.”
Picture credit: Irene Go (12/25/2025).
