DAILY HOMILIES #manger

If every Nigerian Christian truly lived out the values of the baby in the manger, humility, love, justice, and sacrifice, Nigeria would be transformed, not by laws from above, but by lives changed from within. Christmas is a call to repentance. It is a call to let the Christ who is born tonight to be born again in us, to live in us, to rule in us, to change us. St. Paul’s words are clear: Grace trains us to renounce ungodliness. If our Christianity has not changed our behaviour, our integrity, our honesty, our treatment of others, then we have received the grace of God in vain.

Herod’s action casts a dark shadow on Christmas. It raises many questions about God's power in failing to protect these innocent children, but it also reflects our human nature. The book of Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Herod’s action shows the darkness of humanity in need of salvation. It explains what could have become of the world if God had not taken our flesh.

At Christmas, God is saying to us: “Come to me as you would come to a baby, I will not hurt you.” Perhaps, you cannot remember the last time you prayed. Start today. Start to talk to God again. Don’t be scared. Carry this child in your arms and talk to Him.