Reflection/Homily: Christmas Vigil Mass 2013

Reflection/Homily: Christmas Vigil Mass 2013

Theme: God Reveals Himself

This evening’s liturgy marks the beginning of the Christmas season. It is a season of joy and celebration. But more importantly, it is a period when God the Father reveals Himself in the Son through the power of the Holy Spirit. This season is about God’s revelation of Himself and to understand this concept of revelation well, it is pertinent that we go to the root of the word. 

The word “Revelation” is an Anglicized form of the Greek apokaluptein which can be divided into apo and kaluptein. The preposition apo means ‘far from’, ‘after’, ‘away from’ while the verb kaluptein means ‘to hide’, ‘to cover’,’to veil’. The verb apokaluptein could therefore mean ‘far from hiding’ or ‘away from covering’, etc, as much as you can add up the words. In the context of Christian revelation, the ad rem rendition is ‘far from hiding or covering’. That is to say that for God, revelation means ‘far from hiding or covering Himself, which implies revealing Himself. Revelation is a form of theophany, that is, God manifesting Himself.

Reflection/Homily: Christmas Vigil Mass (24th December 2012)

Reflection/Homily: Christmas Vigil Mass (24^th December 2012)

Theme: God Reveals Himself

This evening’s liturgy marks the beginning of the Christmas season. It is a season of joy and celebration. But more importantly, it is a period when God the Father reveals Himself in the Son through the power of the Holy Spirit. This season is about God’s revelation of Himself and to understand this concept of revelation well, it is pertinent that we go to the root of the word. 

The word “Revelation” is an Anglicized form of the Greek apokaluptein which can be divided into apo and kaluptein. The preposition apo means ‘far from’, ‘after’, ‘away from’ while the verb kaluptein means ‘to hide’, ‘to cover’,’to veil’. The verb apokaluptein could therefore mean ‘far from hiding’ or ‘away from covering’, etc, as much as you can add up the words. In the context of Christian revelation, the ad rem rendition is ‘far from hiding or covering’. That is to say that for God, revelation means ‘far from hiding or covering Himself, which implies revealing Himself. Revelation is a form of theophany, that is, God manifesting Himself.

In the history of the Israelites, God manifested Himself among several ways as the God who saves. He saved them from slavery in Egypt, saved them through the desert, etc, until they entered the Promised Land. Within this period, God warned them to be faithful to His ordinances else they will be taken into captivity (cf. Deut 28:58,64). When they could no longer observe God’s commandments, they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians. There they suffered and wept. In the first reading (Isaiah 9:2-4,6-7) God had to reveal His plan to save them through the Prophet Isaiah who announced the Good News that God was coming to save them.