Nativity of the Lord (Christmas: Mass During the Night) (December 25, 2025)

Merry Christmas on this joyous day when heaven touches earth! This is the second of four blogs for the four liturgies of Christmas, as presented in the Roman Missal. Christmas has three additional Masses besides the Vigil. Liturgical historians say the Mass at Night began as a Midnight Mass in Bethlehem as the very first opportunity to celebrate the birth of Christ. After that midnight Mass, there followed a torchlight procession from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, which culminated with a Mass at dawn in the Holy City. This two-fold celebration was observed in 380 AD by a Christian woman named Egeria, who recorded her observations in a journal. The custom of two Christmas liturgies was adopted in Rome and, a few centuries later, a third Mass was celebrated during the day to accommodate the great crowds that came celebrate the birth of Christ.

The First Reading from Isaiah chapter 9 is one of the most famous in all of Scripture. We Christians have a deep association of this reading with the Christmas event:

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shone. . .  For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. . .

Today’s Gospel is the Christmas story according to Luke. I would like to share with you some teachings that are important to Luke. Just as a movie director deliberately chooses images and symbols to convey the themes of his film, so the evangelist chose symbols to help us understand the mystery of God’s revelation.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. And Joseph went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room in the inn.

So Mary and Joseph are itinerant wanderers because of the census that Caesar Augustus decreed. There is no room for them at the inn because of the many travelers in Bethlehem. The Holy Family is without a hospitable welcome. Thus is the Son of God immediately identified with the homeless. 

Jesus is wrapped in swaddling clothes, a style of blanket that restricts a baby’s limbs in the ancient belief that this helps a baby to develop good posture. The swaddling clothes are a symbol of the trappings of humanity that the Son of God accepted in becoming one of us.

Nowadays we associate a manger with the Christmas story, but it is simply a trough or wooden box used to hold food for animals in a stable or livestock yard. With no crib for a bed, the manger becomes a symbol of how Jesus is sustenance for the world, a sign that would see its fulfillment in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

It is said that the best way to celebrate Christmas is to see it once again through the wonder and innocence of a little child. God was so in love with humanity that he wanted to be one of us, and he chose to experience his creation simply, through the wonder and innocence of a little child. What kind of welcome do we give this Holy Child today?