A Child is born — and His Kingdom shall have no end
MASS Puer natus es
EPISTLE Hebrews 1: 1-12
GOSPEL St John 1: 1-14
HOMILIST Mt Revd Jerome Lloyd OSJV
Homily Day Mass
EPISTLE Hebrews 1: 1-12
Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul, the Apostle to the Hebrews. God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days hath spoken to us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the world: Who being the brightness of His glory and the figure of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power, making purgation of sins, sitteth on the right hand of the Majesty on high: being made so much better than the angels, as He hath inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of he angels hath He said at any time: I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son? And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He saith: And let all the angels of God adore Him. And to the angels indeed He saith: He that maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. But to the Son: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of justice is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. And: Thou in the beginning, O Lord, didst found the earth: and the works of Thy hands are the heavens. They shall perish, but Thou shalt continue: and they shall all grow old as a garment: and as a vesture shalt Thou change them and they shall be changed: but Thou art the self-same, and Thy years shall not fail.
GOSPEL John 1: 1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was made nothing that was made: in Him was life, and the life was the Light of men; and the Light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to testify concerning the Light, that all might believe through Him. He was not the Light, be he was to testify concerning the Light. That was the true Light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him to them He gave power to become sons of God, to them that believe in His Name, who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Here all kneel AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, and dwelt among us: and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
LAST GOSPEL Matthew 2: 1-2
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda in the days of King Herod, behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying: Where is He that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and are come to adore Him. And King Herod hearing this was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the Prophet. And thou Bethlehem, the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the Captain that shall rule My people Israel. Then Herod, privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them: and sending them into Bethlehem, said: Go and diligently inquire after the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I may also come and adore Him. Who having heard the king went their way. And behold the star, which they had seen in the East, went before them until it came and stood over where the Child was. And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they found the Child with Mary His Mother, (here genuflect) and falling down they adored Him. And opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country.
Homily for the Third Mass of the Nativity of Our Lord
Missa “Puer natus est” — The Mass of the King
Beloved in Christ,
This third Mass of Christmas Day is the Church’s deliberate correction of our instincts. We are inclined to linger at the crib, to remain with the warmth of straw and the gentleness of the Child. Holy Mother Church does not allow us to stop there. She leads us, on this day, to the great Marian basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and there she enthrones the Infant. This is not the Mass of sentiment. It is the Mass of sovereignty. This is the Mass of the King.
The Introit announces it without hesitation: Puer natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis, cuius imperium super humerum eius. A Child is born — yes — but the government is upon His shoulder. From the first breath He draws, Christ bears rule. His kingship is not postponed until Easter or Ascension. It is not a reward granted after suffering. It belongs to Him by right, because He is the Word through whom all things were made.
This is why the Epistle strikes with such majesty. Saint Paul does not speak of tenderness; he speaks of authority. The Child is the “brightness of His glory and the figure of His substance.” He upholds all things by the word of His power. He sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And then comes the line that defines this Mass: “Let all the angels of God adore Him.” Christmas Day is crowned not by nostalgia, but by adoration. Heaven itself bends the knee.
Notice the deliberate contrast the Church sets before us. Angels — pure spirits, ancient in their creation, mighty in their intelligence — adore. Men, by contrast, hesitate, delay, calculate. This is not merely history; it is a permanent temptation. The modern world is willing to admire Christ, quote Him, even celebrate Him culturally — provided He does not reign. Provided He remains manageable. Provided He stays in the manger.
The Gospel abolishes that illusion. Saint John gives us no shepherds, no star, no census. He gives us the eternal horizon: In principio erat Verbum. Before empires, before revolutions, before ideologies and parliaments and markets, there is the Word. And that Word does not merely visit creation; He becomes flesh. Eternity enters time. The invisible becomes visible. The King assumes His throne — not of gold, but of flesh.
This is why the Church commands us to kneel at Et Verbum caro factum est. This gesture is the axis of the Mass. We kneel not because the sentence is beautiful, but because it is terrifyingly real. God has taken flesh, and therefore flesh must submit. Bodies confess what lips often betray. In an age that refuses to bend — before God, before truth, before nature — the Church insists: kneel.
And then, having proclaimed the eternal Kingship of Christ, the liturgy gives us the Magi as its final seal. Kings come to the King. They cross borders, defy Herod, ignore Jerusalem’s indifference, and prostrate themselves before a Child who possesses no visible power. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are not ornaments; they are acts of political theology. Gold confesses royal authority. Frankincense confesses divinity. Myrrh confesses sacrifice. The King will reign by offering Himself.
Here the Church exposes every false notion of Christian power. Christ does not conquer by flattery or force. He conquers by truth, sacrifice, and obedience unto death. Yet make no mistake: this does not weaken His Kingship; it reveals it. The Cross does not abolish the throne — it establishes it.
And so, dear faithful, this Mass leaves us no refuge in neutrality. Christmas is not a pause in the conflict between Christ and the world; it is its escalation. The King has entered His realm. Herod trembles. Jerusalem is troubled. Angels adore. Shepherds obey. Magi submit. And each soul must decide where it stands.
If Christ is King in the crib, He is King of our homes, our work, our speech, our children, our laws, our loyalties. He does not ask to be added to life; He claims to order it. The world tolerates a baby. It fears a King. The Church gives us both — and demands our allegiance.
This, then, is the judgment and the glory of Christmas Day: the Infant reigns.
Kneel — and adore your King.
Puer natus est nobis.
A Child is born — and His Kingdom shall have no end.
Amen.
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