The Church keeps Christmas going longer than the world expects.

The decorations may be coming down,
the music may be fading,
but the Church insists that something too great has happened
to be rushed past.

Tonight’s readings take us deeper into the mystery.

The first reading from Sirach speaks of Wisdom.

Not as an idea,
not as a philosophy,
but as a living presence.

Wisdom comes forth from the mouth of God.
She pitches her tent among His people.
She takes root.

This is not abstract poetry.

The Church has always read this passage
as pointing forward to Christ.

What Sirach calls Wisdom,
St John will call the Word.

Christmas is the fulfilment of that promise:
God’s Wisdom does not remain distant.
She comes to dwell among us.

The Gospel takes us even deeper.

St John does not begin with Bethlehem,
shepherds, or angels.

He begins before time.

“In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.”

This is the Church’s answer
to every attempt to reduce Christmas
to atmosphere or nostalgia.

The child born in time
is the eternal Word.

He is not created.
He is not promoted.
He is God.

And yet —

“The Word became flesh
and dwelt among us.”

God does not merely visit.
He remains.

St Paul, in the second reading, tells us why this matters.

He says something astonishing:

“He chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world.”

Christmas is not an afterthought.
It is not God reacting to failure.

From all eternity,
God desired to share His life with us.

And so He sends His Son
to draw us into that life.

This is why Paul speaks of blessing, adoption, inheritance.

Christmas is not simply about God coming close.
It is about God making us His own.

And tonight, because it is still Saturday,
the Church quietly keeps before us
the Holy Name of Jesus.

The Word does not remain anonymous.

The eternal Son takes a human name —
Jesus —
which means “The Lord saves.”

The Name tells us why He comes.

Not to admire the world.
Not to blend in.

But to save us from sin
and lead us to eternal life.

That is why the Church bows her head
at the Holy Name.

It is not habit.
It is belief.

It is the body confessing
what the lips proclaim:

This Word is Lord.
This Name saves.

St John is very honest.

“The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not overcome it.”

But he also tells us something else:

“He came to His own,
and His own did not receive Him.”

Christmas is not automatic.

The Word comes.
The light shines.

But it must be received.

And receiving Him changes us.

“To those who did receive Him,
He gave power to become children of God.”

This is transformation.

So the Church asks us a quiet question tonight.

Not whether we like Christmas.
But whether we will live from it.

Will we allow the Word to dwell in us?
Will we let His light expose and heal?
Will we live under His Name?

Because Christmas does not end at the crib.
It moves toward the Cross —
and beyond it, toward glory.

The child we adore tonight is the Lamb who will take away sin.

And the Word who dwells among us still speaks.

On this Vigil of the Second Sunday of Christmas,
the Church gathers everything into one truth:

Wisdom has pitched her tent among us.
The Word has taken flesh.
The Son has taken a Name.

And that Name is given for our salvation.

May we receive Him — not as an idea, but as Lord.

May the Word dwell in us.
May the light guide us.
And may the Holy Name of Jesus
be honoured on our lips,
in our bodies,
and in our lives.