“Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,
“He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He
“Of the things that are, that have been, and that future years shall see:
“Evermore and evermore.”

So wrote Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348-413 A.D.), some 1,600 years ago, not long after the Christian Church began to observe the incarnation – the celebration of Our Lord’s holy birth – the coming of God in human form.
For the first several hundred years of Christian faith Jesus’ birth was not considered of great significance. Every human being is born, and every human being dies. Jesus’ birth, and His death by crucifixion were not unusual.
It was His resurrection from the dead, His return to life, that was – and is – the great and unique proclamation of Christianity. Christian faith, worship and teaching literally rise and fall with the historical truth claim of the Church for 2,000 years: He is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia.”
If that is NOT true, nothing else matters. Certainly not His humble birth in a stable in census-crowded Bethlehem.
But if the resurrection IS true, then Jesus’ birth has eternal significance and deserves to be remembered and celebrated with reverent awe and abiding joy. And what better time than at the darkest time of the year, when our solar system’s sun is farthest away from those of us in the northern hemisphere (where Christianity originated), and the days are shortest?
What better time to celebrate the birthday not of an astronomical entity, but of the true Son of God who created every galaxy, star and planet?
The early Christians did not know (and did not need to care) precisely when Jesus was born. Most Bible scholars surmise He was probably born in the spring, when “shepherds were abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night” (Luke 2); a better time for the mass migration of travelers going to ancestral hometowns for Augustus Caesar’s census.
It was not primarily an historical date our Christian forbears were interested in, but a theological reality. God loves us so much that He entered human history in a human child: “by the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man.”
These phrases, from one of the 3 great ecumenical creeds of the church, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (commonly called the Nicene Creed, dated 325 and 381 A.D.), expressed the fullness of Christian understanding in Prudentius’ time, that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior, the Chosen One.
He was, and is, fully God and fully human, from all eternity. He came to earth to save us from ourselves; He lives to open eternity to the whole of God’s beloved creation.
In the midst of the darkness of this world’s dreary oppressions: war, hunger, disease, disappointment and despair, the Church follows its Lord’s example by relieving the death-dealing of these enemies of humanity. And one weapon in the Church’s arsenal is certainly its hymns.
For 2 millennia Christians have sung their faith. We continue to do so powerfully at this time of the year. The Advent, Christmass and Epiphany carols, familiar and less so, boldly proclaim our faith in the God-child of the manger, echoing Prudentius’ ancient words:
“Let the heights of heaven adore Him; Angel hosts His praises sing;
“Pow’rs, dominions bow before Him and extol our God and King!
“Let no tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert ring:
“Evermore and evermore…”
Blessed Christmass!