Christmas 2008
St Mary's Cathedral
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
25 Dec 2008
In trying to speak to the general population the challenge for priests, bishops and ministers of the Christian religion generally is to direct attention away from the holly and the ivy and away from Father Christmas (who was originally St. Nicholas, an ancient bishop in South West Turkey whose true story is lost in the mists of history. Legend has it that he paid the dowries for 3 young women, which enabled them to marry and avoid a life of degradation). The task is to focus attention in another direction via the gift giving and the festivities on to the Christ child and his mother and on to Christ's teachings.
For those who are already Christians and regular worshippers, whether they be weekly Church goers or "C and E Catholics" i.e. those who come only at Christmas and Easter, the challenge might be different. One of our tasks is to resist the temptation to place the whole Christmas story in the world of fantasy and mythology and view it as beautiful poetry without any historical foundation whatsoever. While we are not constrained to accept every detail of the Christmas stories literally, we are talking about an historical event. Mary and Jesus and Joseph were individuals from Jewish history of more than 2,000 years ago.
It might help us to understand the feast of Christmas better if we follow the story of Joseph, Mary's husband, who was not the father of Jesus. Catholic belief follows the ancient Christian teaching that Jesus is divine as well as human and that God is his father.
Joseph was a common name among the Jews of Jesus' time, honouring the patriarch Joseph, son of Jacob, who was the reason the Jewish people migrated into Egypt about 1,700 years before Christ.
Mary's husband Joseph certainly traced his ancestry back to King David, although Matthew's gospel lists his father as Jacob, while Luke calls the father Heli. Both texts validate the claim that Jesus was entitled to be called a "Son of David".
Joseph was probably born in Bethlehem or at least had some property there, so explaining why he travelled to Bethlehem for the census under Quirinius, the Roman governor of Syria.
The Greek text of Matthew's gospel describes Joseph as a "tekton", which means literally a tradesman, a worker in stone, metal or wood. Therefore the tradition is well founded which describes him as a carpenter.
Joseph became "betrothed" to Mary, something more than a modern engagement, but less than a full marriage. It was a formal contract and infidelity by a betrothed woman was regarded as adultery. After a betrothal of some months, the bride was usually then received into her husband's home and the marriage was consummated.
Joseph therefore had both a personal and religious problem, when he realised during the betrothal period that Mary was pregnant through some other cause. He is also described in Matthew's gospel as a "just man" (dikaios) i.e. a man who scrupulously followed the Jewish law, which forbade him to consummate marriage with an adulterous woman. The penalty for a woman guilty of adultery was stoning to death.
The theologians have debated Joseph's state of mind at this stage, but the most obvious conclusion is probably the correct one. He thought well of Mary, did not understand her pregnancy and decided to divorce her quietly and informally to avoid publicity. It was then that the angel appeared to him, reassuring him about the conception through God's Spirit. He took Mary into his home and they were together when she gave birth in Bethlehem to Jesus her child.
We know the rest of the story, but Joseph reminds us that faith does not bring with it a full and clear understanding or mathematical certainty. Nor does following Christ guarantee that confusion and indignity are excluded. Doings God's will does not even guarantee us a happy ending in this life. That comes in the next life for those who love faithfully.
As always Christmas takes us further than an unreflective acceptance of appearances, calling us to a deeper reflection so we go beyond the Christmas wrappings to search for the gift inside.
The birth of a child is always mysterious and wonderful, bringing out the best in all of us, even if that good will sometimes fades quickly.
But it requires an honesty, a readiness to set aside our self centredness, our imperial egos, to accept that this new born Jewish child was and is the Son of God. Joseph was present for the birth of his redeemer.
This claim turns everything upside down. The world's fulcrum is not the financial centres of New York's Wall Street or London's City, but a cave in Bethlehem. The most important currency is not the dollar or the euro, but loving service.
The children of the great are born in grand palaces and generally suffer in hidden places. Jesus Christ was born in a cave in an obscure village called Bethlehem in a small foreign-ruled state, but suffered and died a humiliating public death in the capital city of Jerusalem.
The world isn't as it seems at first glance and Christmas is a time for us to renew our sense of wonder. Not just wondering how the international captains of finance could have got it all so wrong, but wondering about the daily blessings we take for granted; friends, family, a decent society and the one true God who lies hidden in all this ordinary life.
I wish everyone the peace of Christmas especially those struggling with sickness, sadness or the consequences of our financial woes.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
