Our readings for the Christmas Mass at Midnight pick up a theme that we also found in last Sunday's: Jesus Christ as a King in David's line, the fulfillment of the prophecies of a king who will defeat the enemies of God and his people. We hear tomorrow night that Christ was born of a mother married to a man of the house of David, and in the city of David.
Christ's mission does not involve smashing all earthly burdens. Still, he is adored by humble shepherds who believe the angels' words that his birth is "good news," that he is the "Savior." And the angels sing, "On earth peace to those on whom [God's] favor rests." Indeed, then, Christ comes as our perfect King, to save us from our enemies, and to bring us peace.
As St. Paul writes, "The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age"; "Jesus Christ ... gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good." The grace of God in Jesus Christ is indeed a manifestation of God's power, even more so than God's Old Testament victories over Israel's earthly enemies.
When Christ defeats the power of sin and death in us, he defeats God's, and our, greatest and most powerful enemy. We might note how the Catechism says that the effects of the fall make our life a battle. This is the most important battle of all, against the worst enemy of all. In Jesus Christ, our divine King whose birth we celebrate, and who shares his life with us, makes his life present and active in our own souls, this battle is already definitively won - sin and death are truly conquered. We are thus assured that we can, with Christ, win the battle against our enemy, and so be freed from the burdens of our fallen condition and enter into everlasting peace.
With the angels and the shepherds, let us rejoice in this good news. Let us celebrate with joy the great feast of Christmas. And let us, in cooperation with our victorious King, with God's grace, be renewed in our life of holiness.
