Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) 2023

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
December 25, 2023

Merry Christmas, my dear brothers and sisters!¹

As I was saying, it’s beautiful that we are gathering together this evening for the celebration of holy Mass as we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Savior is born for us, Jesus Christ our Lord! So let us rejoice, be glad, and give thanks!

Tonight, we celebrate the Love of God who comes down from the highest heaven to make his home with us here on earth.

Christmas is the feast of divine love! The Christmas mystery is the mystery of God’s love for you and me, and for every person.

God who is Love comes down to us in all humility, exchanging his divinity for a share in our humanity.

Jesus comes, just as the prophet Isaiah promised he would, like “a great light” breaking into this “land of gloom.” He comes to light our path through this world of darkness. 

So my brothers and sisters, in his glorious light we see our life’s true worth. We see why we are here, and who we are made to be!

Jesus is born a child of Mary, so that we can be born again as children of God.

This is what Christmas discloses: that God desires us to become his beloved sons and daughters. We should let that truth fill our lives.

We need to take the spirit of Christmas into our hearts, and accept the beautiful gift of our Savior’s love.

The first Christians used to say: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us."²

And we too, need to know and believe in God’s love for us.

God loves the world so much, he loves you and me so much, that he sent his only Son to save us from our sins and free us from death.

St. Paul tells us tonight that Jesus “gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own.”

Jesus Christ made his whole life a gift, he made his whole life an offering out of his love for you and for me.

So today, on Christmas, he is born for us and is laid in a manger. But when he is grown, he will lay down his life for us on a cross.

He comes to live and die and rise so that we might have a new life through him. That’s how much our life means to God.

So my brothers and sisters, this is my Christmas wish for you: that tonight, in a new way, you will come to know and believe in God’s love for you.

His love is true! His love is real! He loves each one of us!

So let us ask for the grace to believe in his love and he will give each one of us the power to become children of God. Believe in his love, and he will set you free to live with peace and joy!³

So tonight let us go, like the shepherds, let us hasten to the manger to welcome the Child with reverence and thanksgiving.

One of the saints used to greet every morning saying: “Blessed be this new day, which is Christmas for the earth, since Jesus wants to live it in me again.”

Yes, Jesus wants to be born in your heart and in mine, just as he was born of Mary. Jesus wants to meet the people of our time, through you and through me, he wants to love them and serve them and save them.

Love comes down from heaven, so that you and I can love and be loved.

So my dear brothers and sister, merry Christmas!

In this holy season, surrounded by the light of Love, let us ask the Mary our Blessed Mother to wrap us in the mantle of her love. May she help her Son to be born once again in every human heart.

And may we all feel that beautiful love of God in our lives that we see in the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. And have that peace and joy and share that beautiful love with the people of our time.