But, if I asked you “when do you live?” that’s a different question. Different civilizations throughout history would answer that question in different ways. Many cultures would begin counting the years based on the founding of their city, or on the reign of the king or emperor:it’s 4713 on the Chinese calendar, 5777 on the Hebrew calendar, stardate 47634 if you are a star date fan.
In about the year 530 AD, there lived a Catholic monk named “Denis the Little” who was very concerned about time. Years were then measured from the beginning of the reign of the emperor Diocletian, two-and-a-half centuries earlier. Denis the Little believed that it was inappropriate to date the years by the reign of one of the most notorious persecutors that the Church had ever known. Diocletian’s persecution of the Church was one of the bloodiest and most severe.
Rather, Brother Denis, as do we all, believed Christ is the Lord of History. And so he calculated the years from the most important event in human history, the birth of Our Lord. By the simple act of counting the years from the birth of Christ Brother Denis gave the Western world the system for numbering the years that is still used today.
The centuries before Christ, BC, count up to his birth, and the centuries after count from his birth. We celebrate his birth now on Christmas Anno Domini 2016, the Year of Our Lord 2016.
Our Liturgy even focuses on how Christ is born in time. Christmas Mass began today with the chanted proclamation of the time of Jesus’ Birth of Jesus Christ, “the forty second year of the reign of Caesar Octavian Augustus” and so on. The liturgy begins recalling that Jesus Christ, Son of God was born at a moment in human history. Jesus is not a figure from a man-made myth. God truly chose to take human flesh to dwell among us, at real moment in human history—in what St. Paul calls the “fullness of time”—all of history, all of creation had prepared for this moment.
The Jewish people awaited the coming of the Messiah with great anticipation. Rome had unified much of the world, ease of travel and a common language which would facilitate the spreading of the Gospel.
“Christ is the center.” Pope Francis said recently. “Christ is the center of creation, Christ is the center of his people and Christ is the center of history…
And that Christ became the center of history and humanity means that each one of us can bring our joys and hopes, our sorrows and troubles to Him. When Jesus is the center of our lives, there is a light that shines even in the darkest times of life; he gives us hope…” That God became one of us means that we are never alone. He makes Himself accessible, and available to every person of every place of every time, and invites every human person to a deep intimate personal relationship with Him.
I think this is one of the reasons Christmas is so meaningful to us. Christmas means that whatever you are going through, God is with you. Whether you are struggling with a troubled marriage, a difficult childhood, a depressing job or unemployment, God is with you. If you have unwanted temptations or deep guilt over past sins. God is with you. If you are devout and pious or seriously clueless about the spiritual life and Christian faith, God is with you.
He is with us because he chose to take our flesh and dwell among us. And so whatever we are going through, God is inviting us to find strength, peace, and meaning in Him, he invites us to make Him the center of our life, to allow His light to radiate from the inside-out.
Because Christ is to be the center of the life of the Christian believer, the Pope said, “the attitude demanded of us as true believers is that of recognizing and accepting in our lives the centrality of Jesus Christ, in our thoughts, in our words and in our works...As Christians, our thoughts are to be Christian thoughts, our works are to be Christian works, are words are to be Christian words...” we know all too well how when Christ ceases to be the center of our thoughts, works, and words, when the center is lost, it is it is replaced by something else, and only harm can result for everything around us and for ourselves.”…how easy it is to allow worldly endeavors and anxieties to replace the practices and attitudes of our Christian faith.
Christmas is an invitation to all of us to make Jesus Christ the center of your life again. Make him the center of your days, by beginning every day prayerfully seeking God’s assistance in all of your daily challenges and ending every day prayerfully thanking God for your blessings and forgiveness for all of your transgressions. Make Jesus the center of your week, by returning to the practice of weekly Mass. Schedule the week around making sure you get to Mass, as we are commanded and obligated to do as Catholics. And to make Christ the center of your year, by celebrating today with great joy and thanksgiving to God who “desired to sanctify the world by his merciful coming.”
Like the Shepherds in the Gospel, bring him your adoration every day and every week, that you may know the grace of making him the center of your family, and of your life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the Roman Martyrology
when ages beyond number had run their course
from the creation of the world,
when God in the beginning created heaven and earth,
and formed man in his own likeness;
when century upon century had passed
since the Almighty set his bow in the clouds after the Great Flood,
as a sign of covenant and peace;
in the twenty-first century since Abraham, our father in faith,
came out of Ur of the Chaldees;
in the thirteenth century since the People of Israel were led by Moses in the Exodus from Egypt;
around the thousandth year since David was anointed King;
in the sixty-fifth week of the prophecy of Daniel;
in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;
in the year seven hundred and fifty-two
since the foundation of the City of Rome;
in the forty-second year of the reign of Caesar Octavian Augustus,
the whole world being at peace,
JESUS CHRIST, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,
desiring to consecrate the world by his most loving presence,
was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and when nine months had passed since his conception,
was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judah,
and was made man:
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.
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