(Christmas 1998: This homily was given on December 25, 1998 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Matthew 1: 18-25.)
"Whoever takes the Son gets it all!"Someone sent this to me recently via e-mail. It's entitled, "A Christmas parable:"
The story is told of a wealthy man who, along with his young son, had a passion for collecting art. Together the widowed man and his son traveled the world, adding the finest art treasures to their collection. Priceless works by Picasso, Monet, and many others adorned the walls of their estate. Eventually the son became an experienced art collector, and his father beamed with pride as he and his boy dealt with the best art collectors from around the world.
Then the war began, and the young man left to serve his country. After only a few weeks, his father received a telegram stating that his son was missing in action. The old art collector waited anxiously, fearing he would never see his son again. Within days, his worst fears were confirmed: his son had been killed while carrying a fellow soldier to a medic.
Distraught, the old man faced the upcoming Christmas holiday with anguish and sadness. But on Christmas morning, a soldier came to his door holding a large package. He said, "I was a close friend of your son. I was the one he was rescuing when he died. May I come in? I have something for you."
As they conversed, the soldier told how the son had often talked of his and his father's love of art. "I too am an artist," said the soldier, "and I would like to give you this." The old man unwrapped the package and found a portrait of his son which had been painted by the soldier. Overcome with emotion, he thanked the young man, and promised to hang the picture above his fireplace.
After the soldier departed, the old man set about his task, hanging the painting above his fireplace, pushing aside thousands of dollars' worth of paintings. Then he sat in his chair and spent Christmas day gazing at the gift he had been given. During the weeks that followed, the old man learned that his son had rescued dozens of wounded soldiers before a bullet had stilled his heart. As he heard these stories of his son's gallantry, fatherly pride began to ease his grief. The painting of his son became his most prized possession. He told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received.
The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. The art world waited in anticipation, knowing that his paintings would eventually be sold at auction. His will stipulated that all the art works would be auctioned on a single day--on Christmas, the day he had received his greatest gift.
December 25th soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to bid on some of the world's most spectacular paintings. But the auction began with a painting that wasn't on the auction list--the painting of the man's son. The auctioneer asked for an opening bid. The room was silent. Minutes went by; no one spoke. Finally someone in the back of the room shouted, "Who cares about that painting? It's just a picture of his son. Let's go on to the good stuff. That's why we're here." Voices echoed in agreement. "No," said the auctioneer, "We must sell this one first." Finally, a friend of the old man spoke up: "Will you take $10? That's all I have. I knew the boy, so I would like to have it." The auctioneer replied, "I have $10. Will anybody go higher?" After more silence, the auctioneer said, "Going once, going twice, gone." The gavel fell. Cheers filled the room and someone exclaimed, "Now we can bid on the real treasures!"
The auctioneer then looked at the audience and said, "This auction is now over." Stunned disbelief filled the room. "What do you mean, it's over?," someone asked. "What about all these paintings? There are millions of dollars' worth of paintings here!" The auctioneer replied, "It's very simple: According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son gets it all."
That Christmas, those art collectors discovered the love of a father--a father whose greatest joy came from his son, who gave away his life rescuing others. Christmas reminds us of another Father, whose Son came to us to rescue us from sin and eternal death. And because of that Father's love, whoever takes the Son gets it all!
That's a great Christmas story--and a challenging one! Because it's so easy to be like those art collectors. Why didn't they "take the son?" What was their reason for not doing so? Simple: it's because they thought that other things were more important! And that's precisely the reason why we don't always "take the Son" (Son in this case is spelled with a capital S). It's because--consciously or unconsciously--we make the decision that other things are more important to us than he is. We make the decision that material possessions are more important; we make the decision that getting ahead in our profession is more important; we make the decision that sleeping late on Sunday mornings is more important; we make the decision that alcohol is more important, that drugs are more important, that gambling is more important. We decide that sexual gratification is more important, that popularity is more important, that getting our own way is more important. And on and on the list goes. "Taking the Son" means receiving new life in Baptism and living a life of faith. And whenever we fail to live a life of faith--in other words whenever we disobey one of the commandments that Jesus has given us in Scripture, or in the official teachings of his Church--in effect we are saying to the heavenly Father, "I don't want your Son; I'll take my sin instead."
This means that "taking the Son" is not a once-and-for-all phenomenon. Rather, it's something we must do every day! And when we fail (as we all do) we need to apply the remedy--which is conversion and Confession! Jesus instituted the sacrament of Confession on Easter Sunday when he told his apostles: "If you forgive men's sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound." That's because Jesus knew that even the best of us would decide not to "take him" at various moments of our lives, and he wanted us to have the means to be restored to grace. Some people think they don't need Confession. Many of the great saints indicated that people who think they don't need Confession are usually the people who need it the most! A very strange irony, isn't it?
Whoever takes the Son, gets it all! That's a promise that God the Father makes to us today. "All" in this case means heaven, and everything we need to get there! One of our seminarians, Steve Turano, sent me a Christmas card the other day that had this powerful line in it: "He [Jesus]came to pay a debt he didn't owe, because we owed a debt we couldn't pay." Jesus came so that we would "take him" and receive the eternal benefits of his Passion, Death and Resurrection. May every single one of us do that today, and tomorrow, and every day thereafter--until the day we meet him face to face and receive it ALL!