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“A great sign of God’s love”
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December 27, 2023Christmas morning Mass at Corpus Christi Cathedral was celebrated by Rev. James Stembler.
The choir chanted in Latin for the procession, and throughout Mass they sang beautiful Christmas hymns. Fr. Stembler’s sermon drew attention to the Gospel reading from John Chapter 1, “In the beginning was the Word…” He recalled that the first chapter of Genesis foreshadowed the coming of Christ into the world, as a gift freely given.
Jesus, the Word made flesh, being born in Bethlehem is a “great sign of God’s love.” Jesus’ coming into the world is “a horizon shift… This birth was felt from one end of the universe to the other, because it helped us understand beyond a doubt that we are loved by God no matter what anyone says The truth is that God loves us. There’s the witness, there’s the sign, there’s the love. “
We can engage with the Word and have a relationship with Him. “It is not enough to keep the Word in a manger or on a cross,” said Fr. Stembler. “It’s a part of us, it dwells among us. That’s what we celebrate...It’s not something outside of us that we point to, but something that exists within us and draws us closer to an appreciation of God and all he has created. It is all gift.“
Stembler closed by saying we should contemplate what gift we are giving this child in return, and to be the gift God has created us to be.
