Christmas 2014

“Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

In one sentence: “While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son.” The mystery of Christmas is revealed in the simplest of ways. The power of God comes to us in a tiny infant. God is with us in the Bethlehem infant born to Mary and Joseph.

This night of mystery had its origins on the darkened hills of Judea. In a manger, in a town far away, among shepherds, and in the dark of night, Jesus is born. Our salvation is dawned with the messiness, poverty, and weakness of ordinary human life. This hardly seems a very auspicious beginning to the dawn of salvation.

Now as we fast-forward to 2014, the great privilege that was mine was to gather with a super-abundance of our parish children on these altar steps at the 2:00 and the 4:00 liturgies and to share with them the Christmas Gospel that tells the story of the birth of Jesus. I tell you with every ounce of faith conviction that I have that God continues to come to us in the birth of these beautiful children who were gathered around me.
Their lives speak of the wonder and the beauty of God’s continuing presence among us. Christmas is for children -- yes, most definitely. Christmas is for us as well as we realize the best gifts of life are unwrapped. These children are the revelation of God’s love for us. Thanks be to God.

“She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” No room in the inn is not simply a description of the housing situation in Bethlehem at the time. It is a probing statement that is meant for us to continually reflect upon as we retell the Christmas story. Is there room in the inn of our hearts for the birth of the Savior? Is there room in our hearts for Jesus who lives in the hearts of the poor, the immigrants, and children of all cultures and of all ways of life?
The story of Christmas is ageless, needing to be remembered and told again and again. May we know how the story of our salvation is revealed in Mary and Joseph, no room in the inn, the Savior born in swaddling clothes, the angel appeared to the shepherds and told them: “Do not be afraid.”

The mystery of Christmas is when we can connect the story of our lives with the story of Christmas. The Christmas message is the story of God’s unconditional love for us. As his disciples we are called to fill this world with many other stories that mirror and give witness to God’s love for us. That is the meaning and wonder of the Incarnation.
We experience the story of Christmas when we experience the presence of God with us. For me, this happened in the surgical intensive care unit of Strong Hospital when I gathered at the bedside of a very ill parishioner with the patient’s husband and daughter. Looking at the person she loved most in life, her mother, the daughter simply prayed: That God’s will be done. With much faith, she entrusted her mom to the loving care of God. God was with us.

In celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation with one of our younger parishioners who was celebrating this sacrament for the first time on Saturday morning, December 13, with some nervousness, with a beautiful honesty, and a touching trust in our healing and forgiving God, she emerged from the sacrament with a big smile that all was well. God was with us.

Simply enjoying a cup of coffee with a friend at Starbucks, without any doubt, God is with us.

May you often connect the story of Christmas with the story of your life. We do that when we know God is with us. Indeed the best gifts of life are unwrapped. They are found in the people you love and in the presence of Jesus in your life.

Our exterior Christmas decorations are up and they are beautiful. What about our interior Christmas decorations? May we allow the peace of Christ to enter once again into our lives, calming all of our anxieties and filling with all that is good.

Christmas is not simply about Mary and Joseph and the baby. It is about God becoming part of our daily struggle, transforming the world through us. We are the people who walk in darkness – the darkness of sin, the darkness of war, the darkness of relationships that are broken, and the darkness of the threat of violence and terrorism. How many people in our world today experience “no room in the inn” because of race, color, religion, gender, sexuality? What attitude and actions of ours communicate to people in need that there is no room for them in the inn of our hearts? The message of Christmas is that Jesus comes for people in dark places. The real, lasting and deep joy of Christmas is that light shines in the darkness.

You may be sure that to whatever area of our life we allow the Christ child to enter, the darkness recedes. The mystery of Christmas is allowing the person of Jesus to enter the inn of our hearts. It is an invitation to look at our present moment through a different lens, the mystery of the nativity of Jesus, the wonder of the Incarnation. This new lens enables us to see a new and radiant vision, a light for people who walk in darkness.

When the Lord of history, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, broke the silence of the centuries and spoke in the darkness of that first Christmas night, he spoke through a vulnerable infant in a manger.

Yet we may be confident that the final word of the story will be one of light shining in the darkness and life triumphant over death. The true gift of Christmas is the ability to discover God in the midst of brokenness and darkness. The spiritual power given to us in the mystery of Christmas is the power of our faith -- the faith that enables us to hear the Christmas story filled with the promise that our future is full of hope and that we always and forever are God’s beloved sons and daughters.

In the inn of our own hearts, there is an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. We are missioned to be the keepers of the mystery of Christmas – God is with us. We give birth to Christ when we allow the light that is within us to extend to our family, and our parish family, and to all of creation.