Christmas Eve, 4:00 Mass
I suspect this is probably
the first time that a lot of you have heard about the genealogy of Jesus, and
didn’t you know I pronounced all those names perfectly. (Applause) But why proclaim that? Why go through all that list of names of
people that you never met, never knew, probably won’t until we get into
eternity. Because what it says. Matthew wanted to line up for us this
genealogy, that all these people going way back to Abraham. And among all those names and people were
robbers, prostitutes, murderers, people who did terrible rotten things but also
people who rose above their faults and failings until finally we get down to
Joseph who becomes the foster father of Jesus.
So what is the gospel trying
to say? That God has no social
status. We don’t have to be a part of
the aristocracy to have God love us. It
doesn’t make any difference how much hair you have, how big you are, how fat,
skinny, rich, poor, your health. What
it’s saying is God comes into our humanity and says, “I love you. I love you in your sinfulness, in your
failings, in your pain, in your hurt, your desires, in your glory, your
goodness, everything I embrace.” That’s
what Christmas is trying to tell us.
That this is why God came into our humanity. That’s why that genealogy is so very, very
important. Because all of us have a
genealogy as well don’t we. Because all
of us were born at one time of a mother and a father.
And here is someone who was
born just a couple months ago, right?
Little Jack. How is Jack
doing? Okay, this makes Jack so
special. Are you going to cry on
me? Alright, good, okay. Because I baptized how many years ago, about
30, okay grandma said it I didn’t. Also
I did Katie and Eric’s wedding about a year-and-a-half ago, and now this is
their first son, Jack. And Jack, part of
what you want to tell us tonight in the homily is you have changed Katie and
Eric’s life, right? Your life will never
be the same. Your time is not your own,
you know that already. And in the days,
weeks, months and years to come they are going to promise to clothe you, feed
you, nourish you, protect you, educate you, give you all the values and all the
things that life give to us. All of you
with children here, you all did that too.
And you will do your best and then there will come a day, at a moment in
time when Katie and Eric you will have to let Jack go. And he will have to walk out that door on his
own two feet. (blank space, not
recorded) That’s what a newborn baby
says to us. That every breath that you
and I take is precious and every breath is a gift from this God.
Now can you image Mary
holding Jesus like this? And He probably
wasn’t wrapped in a nice little blanket, He was warm. It was a stable, a feeding trough where Mary
lay Jesus. Are you getting tired? Oh this is so hard isn’t it. I think he’s going to go to sleep, yes. So while you’re sleeping maybe I’d better
give you back to mom. Okay. Does he sleep at night too like that? No.
But that’s why life is so
precious. Because our God came to
us. The first reading said it very well.
There was one line in that first reading from the prophet, “God delights in His
people.” God delights in everyone of us
here this evening. Didn’t I do his brother,
a year ago. And what’s your name?
Ian. Wow, Ian David. Okay, alright Ian. You’re sleeping already so I’ll let you
sleep. Don’t push it.
Over these many years God
has been good to me. All these little
babies that I’ve held have just been so perfect, so precious. Because not that we sentimentalized Christmas
and say, “Oh, neat, neat, yes beautiful how a child is and precious.” But we have to go something deeper this
Christmas. If God delights in you and me
then our call is to delight in ourselves, and when we delight in ourselves you
and I then will delight in all the other people around us. If all you do when you go back home tonight
or tomorrow and Sunday or Monday take down the Christmas tree and you know take
all the cards and throw them out and say, “No more Christmas carols for another
year, thank heaven.” You’ve missed the
whole point. Everyday is Christmas. Everyday you and I are supposed to give birth
to Jesus in our hearts. Everyday you and
I are called to love as Jesus loves us.
To be people of compassion, of hope, of mercy, of forgiveness. To be people who delight in one another.
How many times this past
week, maybe especially today if you were out driving did you call some other
driver a jerk? I called a few of them
that last night. Slow down and they went
all the faster. How many people in this
past week did we say, “Why are they in this line. They’ve got too many items. It’s the express lane. Can’t they read?” How many people in your family, perhaps even
this afternoon, you said, “Hurry up. We
gotta got to Mass. We’re going to be
late.” And we yell and we scream. How much delight is that?
So as a baby changes a mom
and dad’s life. And all of you who are
parents know that far better than I do.
That child changes you life. You
will never be the same again. You take
on those beautiful responsibilities.
Sometimes you wonder perhaps down the road when things have happened to
your children you say, “Uh, why did we do this?
What will they become? What will Jack
become? How many lives will he
touch?” Well think about how many lives
you’ve touched. Who are the people
you’ve rubbed elbows with over these last 15, 20, 60, 70, how many years? How many people have you delighted in? How many people have you and I cursed? How many people have you and I forgiven?
Everyday I believe Christmas
is telling Pat Grile delight in other people.
You can only do that when you delight first in yourself. We allow the Lord to be born inside of us. We will give birth, and I’m sure the mothers
know birth is painful right? But out of
that pain comes life and a sense of joy and perhaps relief too.
So if you are giving birth
to Jesus, if you and I are not suffering somehow then maybe we are not doing it
the right way. So I’m not here to lay
shame, blame or downplay the joy and the happiness and all the beauty of
Christmas, all the colors, excitement.
This is what this night is about.
But this is a Christmas 2009
that you and I have never celebrated before, will never celebrate it
again. So delight in what this day has
to offer. Delight in other people
tomorrow, especially those closest to you.
Maybe you will be very happy when your family finally walks out that
door, Oh, thought they’d never leave.
But in the meantime delight in one another. See the best and the goodness in each other,
not just the things we don’t like about one another. That’s easy to see the things we don’t like. See the good things in each other. Encourage and affirm and be happy that God has
put you with this family at this moment in time in history.
Like the genealogy of Jesus
there are no perfect families are there?
But God came into that imperfection and took us to another level to see
that we are all brothers and sisters.
God is the God who loves each and every one of us for who we are. God says, “I delight in you.” Take that delightfulness and share it, give
it. And let Christmas 2009 be the best
Christmas you’ve ever had the opportunity to live and enjoy. And then tomorrow when you get up again start
all over and delight again in another day.
Merry Christmas.