Christmas Day B (Luke 2:1-14)

As someone with a perpetual interest in languages, I would like to share three non-SAT vocabularies. The first one is “kuchisabishii.” This is a Japanese word. Its literal translation would be “a lonely mouth.” It’s used at times when I eat even though I’m not hungry just because my mouth is lonely. The second vocabulary is “hiraeth [/ˈhirˌīTH/].” It is a Welsh word that is in every-day use today, but which doesn't easily translate into English. Hiraeth is often described as a deep longing for a place or time that may never have existed, or that may have existed only in one's memories or imagination. The last word is an English term, “coddiwomple.” It means to travel purposefully towards an as-yet-unknown destination. 

Common threads among these words include loneliness, deep longing, and the courage to move forward despite uncertainty—themes fitting well with the season of Advent. While Advent is marked by yearning for the coming of Christ, Christmas invites us to realize Christ’s presence within us.

During this year's Advent season at St. Agnes’, we embraced an unusual experience: simulating Mary’s labor pains. This might have been a challenging experience, especially for those who have one X and one Y chromosome. More challenging since not only were we to imagine we were pregnant with a child but were already in labor pains that we were about to give birth during the Advent season. This spiritual practice at St. Agnes’ somewhat echoes Angelus Silesius, a 17th-century German mystic’s saying, “Even if Christ is born a thousand times in Bethlehem, but not in you, you were lost eternally.” 

The whole idea behind this metaphor of Mary in labor pains is that all of us, all human beings and God’s creatures are already pregnant with God’s presence in themselves. As Christians, we are to embody that presence in the deepest core of our being which is symbolized in the language of Mary in labor pains. We are to bear the fruits of Christ, which involves labor pains. These pains are nothing but the process of examining our unskillful thoughts, words, and deeds and learning to become skillful in how we think and feel, how we talk to ourselves and others with kindness and wisdom, and how we act. 

Now that this Advent is over, I’m eager to not just say, “Merry Christmas!” but also, “Congratulations!” that Christ is born within you. This also means, no more kuchisabishii, no more lonely mouth, no hiraeth, no coddiwompling. 

If our goal for this Advent is to pave the way for Christ to be born, meaning delving deep into the depth of your being to secure a womb, our goal for this Christmas season is to receive and secure Christ in us. This is what the front page of today’s Christmas program intends: “…no place for them in the inn…Find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” No place to look for Christ just as no place for Mary and Joseph in the inn. Our hearts wrap Christ the child in bands of cloth and our bodies become that manger where Christ the child is lying down. 

So, don’t look further to see Christ. We hear some fellow Christians shout, “Put Christ back into Christmas!” That misses the point. It’s rather “Put Christ in Christians.” as you might have heard it somewhere. I say more, Christ is already within the manger of our body, warmly wrapped in our hearts. The task is how to grow and cultivate Christ in us. And I can repeatedly tell you this saying “grow and cultivate Christ in you. Be like Christ” and on and on. But this will not go anywhere unless I share with you exactly how you do that. 

The first step to this task to grow and cultivate Christ in us always begins with where we are right here and right now. The second coming of Christ happens right here and right now, within us, not without, not elsewhere in the sky above. Look into our mind. See what’s in it. What thoughts and feelings are there? If our mind is cluttered with so many aimless thoughts and feelings, we cannot even see our mind clearly. This is when we are consumed with thoughts and feelings that we become this thought or that feeling. When our vision of the mind is clouded, we might as well lose our vision of the world around us. It’s hard to see what matters. 

So, we still our minds first. The closest thing that connects the mind and the body is the breath. We let the breath radiate throughout the body so that the mind is more concentrated and focused. Our bodily work with the breath stills the mind and we can soon realize that this breath of ours is nothing but the presence of the Breath of God, the Holy Spirit. As the wind becomes calm and the ocean is still, we can see what’s in it. As our breath becomes steady, we can see what’s in our minds. That which we encounter in that stillness of the mind is the Christ in the manger of our body. This manger is not always clean. That’s why it's a manger. This act of stilling the mind and body is "stilling prayer."

The more we are able to encounter Christ within, the more we can grow and cultivate the presence of Christ without. This coming of Christ in us, we’re celebrating this day of Christmas. 

As I conclude my Christmas message, I want to leave you with one more non-SAT word: “apricity,” the warmth of the sun in winter. 

May the Christ born in you bring the apricity of God where winter feels colder. 
May the world apricate in the light of Christ carried by each one of us. 
Glory to God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning and will be forever. Amen.