Christmas, Year B
First Readings: Is 9:2-4, 6-7; 62:11-12; 52:7-10
Second Readings: Ti 2:11-14; Ti 3:4-7; Heb 1:1-6
Gospel Readings: Lk 2:1-16; 2:15-20; Jn 1:1-18

All of the Christmas Readings echo the same theme: “The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone.” “For there is a Child born for us, a Son given to us, and dominion is laid on his shoulders ... in a peace that has no end.”

The birth of Jesus, God the Son made man, began a new calendar. For Christians, “BC” still means “Before Christ,” while “AD” means “Anno Domini,” or “in the year of Our Lord.”

The difference between BC and AD is the difference between darkness and light, oppression and freedom, war and peace, sickness and health, for God’s graciousness “has made salvation possible for the whole human race.”

The current pandemic, serious as it is, is as nothing compared to our spiritual sickness before Christ; our healing from COVID-19, welcome as it will be, is as nothing compared to the spiritual healing that is possible because of Christ.

Even now, God is using COVID-19 to heal us spiritually. On March 19, Pope Francis opened to us the Church’s treasury, which, says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, includes the infinite merits of Christ, the “immense” prayers and good works of Mary, and “the prayers and good works of all the saints.”

In other words, he granted full remission of the temporal punishment due to sin (that is, the harmful effects of our sins on ourselves and the world) to the following:

1) “The faithful suffering from the coronavirus, who are subject to quarantine by order of the health authority in hospitals or in their own homes if, with a spirit detached from any sin, they unite spiritually through the media to the celebration of Holy Mass, the recitation of the Holy Rosary, the pious practice of the Way of the Cross, or other forms of devotion, or if at least they will recite the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and a pious invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, offering this trial in a spirit of faith in God and charity toward their brothers and sisters, with the will to fulfil the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion, and prayer according to the Holy Father’s intentions), as soon as possible.”

2) “Health care workers, family members, and all those who, following the example of the Good Samaritan, exposing themselves to the risk of contagion, care for the sick of coronavirus” (under the same conditions).

3) “Those faithful who offer a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or Eucharistic adoration, or reading the Holy Scriptures for at least half an hour, or the recitation of the Holy Rosary, or the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross, or the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, to implore from Almighty God the end of the epidemic, relief for those who are afflicted, and eternal salvation for those whom the Lord has called to Himself.”

Moreover, he said, “the Church prays for those who find themselves unable to receive the sacrament of the anointing of the sick and of the viaticum, entrusting each and every one to divine mercy by virtue of the communion of saints, and granting the faithful a plenary indulgence on the point of death, provided that they are duly disposed and have recited a few prayers during their lifetime (in this case the Church makes up for the three usual conditions required). For the attainment of this indulgence the use of the crucifix or the cross is recommended.”

How good God is!

May we all enjoy a truly blessed Christmas, even in this time of pandemic. May we all realize exactly who Christ is and allow him to make the difference in our hearts between darkness and light, slavery and freedom, war and peace, sickness and health.

May this Christmas mark the difference between BC and AD in all our lives.

Father Hawkswell is again teaching “The Catholic Faith in Plain English” free of charge. All the materials (video and print) are available online at www.beholdvancouver.org/catholic-faith-course. Session 16, “Mary and Joseph,” will be available January 3.