A reading from the prophet Isaiah (62:11-12)
See, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth:
say to the daughter Zion,
‘See, your salvation is coming.
See, his reward is with him,
his achievement precedes him!’
They shall be called ‘the Holy People’, ‘the redeemed of the Lord’,
and you yourself shall be called ‘Sought-out’, ‘City-not-forsaken’.
The briefest of the Christmas readings is dominated by a triple initial ‘See!’ translated from the Hebrew hinneh, which is often rendered with the archaic ‘behold!’ The message, to be brought to the ‘end of the earth’, concerns ‘the daughter Zion’ who is told that ‘salvation’, deliverance, liberation (yesha‘), is close at hand. This is all we need to hear. The Lord’s ‘reward’ (40:10) is not booty or riches but his people, and, to confirm that what they are living is real, they will be renamed as ‘holy’, as ‘redeemed’ (ge’ullim). God has indeed ransomed them, for the exile is ended. They are ‘sought out’ and ‘not forsaken’. God’s eternal solidarity with suffering people is spelt out.
Psalm 97 (96) The psalm tells how light shines for the just one (tsaddiq), and for the ‘upright of heart’.
A reading from the letter of St Paul to Titus (3:4-7)
When the kindness and love of God our Saviour for humanity were revealed, not because of any works of righteousness we had ourselves done but in accordance with his own mercy, he saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit which he generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our Saviour so that, justified by his grace, we should become heirs in hope of eternal life.
As in the reading from this letter read at the Mass in the Night (2:11), we hear of a revelation. This time the ‘kindness’ (chrestotes) and ‘love’, love of humanity, (philanthropia) of ‘God our Saviour’ are ‘revealed’ (epiphainein). It is stressed that this is not due to any works ‘of justice’ we have performed, but entirely a gift of the ‘mercy’ (eleos) of God. Our salvation comes through the ‘washing of rebirth’ (paliggenesia), our baptism, and through ‘renewal’ (anakainosis) in the Holy Spirit. We are thus ‘born again’ in the Spirit. The feast of Christmas reveals the trinitarian free gift of God through Christ ‘the Saviour’ in the Holy Spirit. We are ‘justified by the grace’ of God, becoming ‘heirs’ to the hope of eternal life.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke (2:15-20)
Now it happened that when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this event which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what they had been told about this child, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they had been told.
The shepherds readily comply with the instruction from the Lord given by the angel and go to witness this ‘event’ (pema). There is a simple acknowledgement of what they see: Mary and Joseph and the child in the manger. The focus of these verses is on the reactions of the shepherds and of Mary. While the shepherds ‘make known’ the word (pema) they have been told, so that everyone is astonished, Mary does not speak and simply ponders ‘all these things’ (pemata) in her heart. The shepherds’ witness continues as they return to their flocks ‘glorifying and praising God’. It is stressed that what they had seen was ‘just as they had been told’. Word and event coincide.
The role of the shepherds is to pass on the ‘good news’ brought to them.
The silence of Mary speaks louder than words.