There is a beautiful painting of the birth of Jesus, painted in 1622 by a Dutch painter, where the source of light for the whole painting is the baby lying on the manger. The light of Jesus shines brightly on Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the animals, and everything else on the scene. The use of light in this way not only speaks of the great skill of the artist, but it makes a theological point that the Church stresses every Christmas: Jesus, born in Bethlehem, during the darkest time of the year, truly is the light of the world who has come to scatter all darkness. His light has conquered sin and death.
Jesus is the light that shines brightly even in the midst of uncertainty, struggle, pain and sorrow. We all face plenty of that, don’t we? How is it that we persevere?
How is it that we find the strength we need to put our heads up high and move forwards with hope for another day?
We find strength in the knowledge that God is with us – that we do not walk alone. We firmly believe that God is not distant sitting on a throne far away, but rather, that He has chosen to become one like us, and not only that, He continues to manifest Himself in the manger of Bethlehem every time that we gather for the celebration of the Mass – where the altar becomes a manger where Jesus enters the world with His light and weekly scatters the darkness of our lives.
We walk with confidence because Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
That light is here, and we come to share in it.
As a priest, I am called to walk with people at their most difficult times – when the darkness is heavy.
Just the other day, a dying man in great pain said to me, “please Father, once I’m gone, console my wife.”
About a month ago at the local state prison, I visited a man in the infirmary dying of pancreatic cancer. He looked terrible. He said to me in tears, “Father, I can accept the fact that I am going to die, but I don’t want to die alone in here.”
Last summer, I buried a beautiful young lady who died from a drug overdose. At the wake service, there was no family, she has been disowned. There was only one older woman wailing by the casket, a woman who had become like a mother. Also present were a handful of friends, probably all facing the reality of death for the first time. What do you say? Where do you go from there?
The darkness that we encounter in the world can be overwhelming.
It is easy to become disheartened and discouraged.
Pope Francis gives us these words of encouragement, “on this night, let us share the joy of the Gospel: God loves us – he so loves us that he gave us his Son to be our brother, to be light in our darkness. Do not be afraid! Our Father is patient, he loves us. Jesus is the light who brightens the darkness. He is our peace.”
The child born in Bethlehem is not just another great teacher or prophet like teachers and prophets of the past. The child born in Bethlehem is God reaching across the abyss that separates us from Him, and stretching His hand out, so that we can come to know His mercy and love for us.
Christmas is a celebration of hope – hope that because God has become one of us, despite the darkness we face, we do not face it alone, and we can rest assured that light always triumphs over darkness.
Sometimes we think of Jesus as a fairy God mother who keeps granting us wishes… when we are in the darkness, we cry out to Him, and sometimes what we want is not granted. We become discouraged and choose to remain in the darkness. Yet God is not a fairy God mother, He is our creator whose heart breaks when ours breaks, whose heart rejoices when ours does.
We dare to lift up our heads with confidence this Christmas and proclaim to the world that the darkness will not overcome us – that we will allow Christ’s light to enter our hearts today… the Light of the World.
O come let us adore the child in the manger today and every Sunday; may He, with His light, cast out all the darkness within us, so that we can live as children of the light, full of hope and joy.
Christmas Homily 2022
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