Rev. Joshua M.

Janko Christmas – 2010 12/25/10

Merry Christmas! I am so excited for this celebration. I want to welcome

everyone who has gathered for this Mass to celebrate the birth of Jesus. What an

awesome turn out for Jesus’ birthday. In Jesus, God has given us an amazing gift.

The unique part of this gift from God is that the gift of Jesus is for all of us. Jesus

came from Heaven to be a gift to each and every one of us. So, we share together

in the special gift of Jesus and this gift is better than any gift that we will find

under our Christmas Trees. Thank you for coming to celebrate our gift of Jesus at

our parish. Thank you also for your gift to Him of your presence here. It is such a

sight for me to see so many smiling faces fill up our Church today.

I want to begin by sharing with you all that I am the absolute worst gift

wrapper in the history of man. I down right stink at wrapping gifts. I cannot tell

you how many times my mother attempted to teach me how to wrap presents. I

will admit that there are the occasional rare attempts where a present actually looks

so-so after I wrap it. But, whatever present someone would get from me, they

would take twice the amount of time to unwrap it because I use twice as much tape

as the normal person would normally use. So, standing before you now, I want to

thank God for the invention of “gift bags.” You see, my excuse for being a horrible

gift wrapper fizzles away after the invention of gift bags and tissue paper. So, I no

longer have any excuse to not give people gifts. With all this in mind, I want to

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share about the origin of the Christmas crib or manger because that is what God

had in mind for His Son when He gave Him to us as a newborn baby boy. God did

not wrap His Son Jesus up in wrapping paper or place Him in a gift bag, which is

what we find our Christmas gifts in every year. Rather, God had for us in the gift

of His Son a crib, a manger, a crèche filled with hay. We see the tradition of the

Christmas crib each year at our parish, in our homes, at shopping malls and even in

the center of some communities. But, where did the Christmas crib originate? I did

a little research and found out that the Christmas crib was first used by Saint

Francis of Assisi. One of Saint Francis’s contemporaries, Saint Bonaventure, gives

an account of the origin of the Christmas Crib.

“It happened in the third year before his death that St. Francis decided, in

order to arouse devotion, to celebrate at Greccio with the greatest possible

solemnity the memory of the birth of the Child Jesus. So that this would not be

considered a type of novelty, he petitioned for and obtained permission from the

Supreme Pontiff.

He had a crib prepared, hay carried in and an ox and an ass led to the place.

The friars are summoned, the people come, the forest resounds with their voices

and that venerable night is rendered brilliant and solemn by a multitude of bright

lights and by resonant and harmonious hymns of praise.

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 The man of God stands before the crib, filled with affection, bathed in tears

and overflowing with joy. A solemn Mass is celebrated over the crib, with Francis

as deacon chanting the holy Gospel. Then he preaches to the people standing about

concerning the birth of the poor King, whom, when he wished to name him, he

called in his tender love, the Child of Bethlehem.

A certain virtuous and truthful knight, Sir John of Greccio, who had

abandoned worldly military activity out of love of Christ and had become an

intimate friend of Saint Francis, claimed that he saw a beautiful little boy asleep in

the crib and that the Francis embraced it in both of his arms and seemed to wake it

from sleep.

Not only does the holiness of the witness make credible this vision of the

devout knight, but also the truth it expresses proves its validity and the subsequent

miracles confirm it. For Francis's example when considered by the world is capable

of arousing the hearts of those who are sluggish in the faith of Christ.

The hay from the crib was kept by the people and miraculously cured sick

animals and drove away different kinds of pestilence. Thus God glorified his

servant in every way and demonstrated the efficacy of his holy prayer by the

evident signs of wonderful miracles” (From the Life of St. Francis (Legenda

Maior) by St. Bonaventure).

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 This year, let us humble ourselves before the child who was given to us as a

gift from God. Jesus was not wrapped up for us in paper, or placed in a gift bag.

Rather, God willed that His Son would be laid in a crib, a manger, a crèche for all

the world to see. The love, humility and trust of our God is unimaginable. To think

that God would entrust and give His Son Jesus to us so that we could realize how

much He loves us. Also, we cannot forget the fact that He gives us the gift of His

Son Jesus in each and every Mass as well. Jesus comes down from Heaven to be

with His people in the Eucharist. My dear friends, on this day, have the faith of

Saint Francis in visiting humbly our God who became one of us. Place your

prayers into the tiny hands of our God. Allow yourselves to be drawn into the

Christmas mystery. Do not be afraid to come home to this faith family if you have

been away and celebrate with us each and every week the truth that our God loves

us. I hope and pray that our Church is as full Sunday for the Feast of the Holy

Family as it is for the celebration of the birthday of our Lord. Our faith deserves

some attention, and it grows with the gift from God, our Emmanuel, Jesus Christ

the Lord in the Eucharist. Merry Christmas to you all and may God our Heavenly

Father Bless you + the Father, and the son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.