December 25, 2025; Luke 2:1-14; Christmas
People are listening to more Christmas music than ever. Spotify has reported that on December 1, 2019, fourteen of the top 50 downloads were Christmas songs. But this year, on December 1, thirty of the 50 were songs about Christmas. And by December 10th of this month, Christmas songs accounted for 20 of the top 25 downloads. Those in the music business are terming this phenomenon “The Christmas Explosion.” Why is it happening? The most common explanation is that people today are under stress. More people find their lives adrift, without direction or purpose. When people are challenged in this way, they turn to familiar comforts. Both the nostalgia and the hope of the Christmas message provide such comfort. Christmas music is booming.
But is Christmas about comfort? Of course it is. The angels in today’s gospel proclaim “good news of great joy for all the people.” That announcement in the words of the Christmas carol to the Merry Gentlemen is expressed as “tidings of comfort and joy.” So Christmas provides comfort for those who are challenged—those who are challenged because of an uncertain future or because they have lost a loved one, those who are challenged economically, physically, or emotionally. Christmas is meant to comfort the challenged, because if a savior is born to us, then good news and salvation will follow close behind.
But there is more to Christmas than comfort. You can see this if you look carefully at the Christmas stories. They have beautiful images of the virgin, the angels, and the star. But they also include family turmoil, as Joseph tries to understand how Mary is pregnant; poverty, as the Christ Child is born in a shed with animals; and the political violence of Herod, which causes the Holy Family to flee for their lives. These stories remind us that the world is not as God wants it to be, not as it should be, either in Jesus’ time or today. And we are called to do something about it.
Yes, Christmas comforts the challenged, but it also challenges the comfortable. We are challenged to see that the message of the angels rings true in our time, to see that good news and joy affect all people. We who celebrate Christ’s birth are meant to commit our lives according to his message of love. We are not to exclude anyone because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or nationality. We are asked to see every poor child as our child and to understand that every family that flees political persecution is a concern of ours.
It is fitting and just for us to embrace the joy of Christmas, to be thankful for all we have received, to celebrate with family and friends, and to embrace the comfort of the Christmas songs. But today’s gospel also reminds us that we are called to take up Christ’s mission and to understand that the love of God that has given us Jesus challenges us to give our love to everyone.
Merry Christmas.