Guest Column: Christmas 2011
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That first Mass took place at a time in our nation's history when the outlook was very dark. The country was rent asunder by the Civil War. Union armies had suffered blistering defeats at Bull Run and Ball's Bluff. Families, here in Springfield, worried about their young men; for already Springfield had provided two regiments of 1,000 soldiers each to the Union Army. President Lincoln's popularity had plummeted. Mills in New England were laying people off because their supply of cotton from the South had dried up. Yet, in the midst of all that, the Christmas celebration of St. Michael's first Mass was a joyful sign of hope.
Eight hundreds gaslights illuminated the church so that it was literally true that "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." The gaslights illumined the building, but the light of Christ illumined their hearts.
While not as extreme as in 1861, this past year has been dark for many as well. Nature's fury certainly has hammered western Massachusetts: the blizzards last winter, the storms in the spring, the June 1st tornado, the microbursts that followed, the flooding from Hurricane Irene, the earthquakes and, of course, the October snowstorm that left thousands without power or light for days. There are homes and businesses still awaiting repair. There are communities that still must rebuild. In the diocese, we are working toward the restoration of Cathedral High School, St. Michael's Academy Middle School and Preschool, and the residence for retired priests. Add to all that a continuing economic crisis and a political stalemate that seems to have paralyzed government and you have the makings of what can certainly be considered a dark time.
Still, here we are 150 years after the first Mass, celebrating another Christmas Mass in this selfsame church and realizing that despite everything, hope lives.
Why? Because the light of Christ continues to illumine our hearts. God loved the world so much that he sent us his only Son, and the Son loved us so much he became one with us, like us in all things but sin. The child born at Bethlehem was to grow to adulthood and lay down his life that we might live into eternity. The hope of Christmas is that the world can be made different because the light of the world was born into it.
Christian faith accepts that at a certain moment in time God in His love for us stepped into our history, clad in our flesh and blood, in order to heal our sinfulness and draw us to himself. St. John expressed the mystery in one short sentence: "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."
There is always an appealing freshness about the Christmas story. We never tire of hearing how the infant Jesus lay in swaddling clothes in a manger at Bethlehem. The shepherds guarding their flocks on the nearby hillside were filled with awe as the chorus of angels broke the silence of the night with their joyous song of praise: "Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on Earth."
The great feast of the Nativity celebrates the closeness of God to us, born into our ordinary life. It's a mystery which stretches our minds beyond their limits, moving us towards that horizon where time touches eternity. The newborn child is our living link with God. We are amazed and surprised that God should come among us in such humble circumstances, that God should love us so much.
Our celebration of the birth of our Lord is more than a remembrance of the happenings in Bethlehem on a starry night 2,000 years ago. It is a reminder that God loves us so much that he sent his only Son among us to save us, to forgive our sins and to shine light on the way to our heavenly home. In compassion, he broke the sacred barrier between creature and creator, by reaching down and presenting himself to us as a child, inspiring love rather than fear. Since that night, the newborn child is our living link with God, who is always near to those who welcome him with an open heart. As heaven comes down to earth, it carries with it timeless blessings which overcome any darkness.
Christmas focuses not only on what Jesus did by making his home with us, but on what we must do, as it reveals that we are loved by God as part of the family.
The consequences of that in our daily living are truly enormous. Everyone else is part of the family as well. We saw that this past year as people rallied in a tremendous way to help others who had suffered loss of house and home, business and school. We surprised each other by an outpouring of generosity, of helping hands and loving hearts. We stepped out of our conventional roles and created oases of light in a dark world. In so doing, we become signs of the hope that arises from the birth of Jesus. That birth reassures us that God loves us, that he is with us now and always. His presence within and among us enables us to step beyond our limited selves again and again and so bring true love to everyone whose lives we touch not simply at Christmas but throughout the year.
The stupendous gift of God is a savior to a sinful world: a shepherd to lost sheep: a light to those in darkness: the healing of God for our wounds: the side-by-side companionship of God for all of us on the road of life, the love of God for us all.
Christmas is about love, about giving and about the returning of love for love. It's the time of year when our hearts are focused in the right place, when we truly realize that it is more blessed to give than to receive. We are more alive, more sensitive to the many needs of the poor who are crying out for our generosity and caring. We are more sensitive to those who find the going tough, whose lives at this particular time find the shadow of the cross upon the crib. Because Christmas highlights God's love for us, it makes us more mindful of the love we are called to share with others.
But Christmas is more – it is the reminder that God-is-with-us every day. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
And, if God is with us every day, shouldn't we make the reality of Christmas happen every day? Isn't the fact of God's love for us something to share not just once a year, but all the time? Isn't that the lesson we showed as we rallied to help each other this past year? We met the Christmas challenge – to be signs of hope for others throughout the year.
May that continue! May love of and for Christ reign in our hearts; may we show it to others not only at Christmas but every day. Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad, Ve-so-wee Svi-ont, Joyeaux Noel, Buon Natale. I wish I could say it in every tongue. For Christ shows his love anew today – Christ is alive, Christ is here, Christ is with you. And he wants you with him forever and ever. Amen.
Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell serves the Diocese of Springfield, which covers Western Massachusetts. His homily was given at St. Michael's Cathedral Springfield.
