Readings for Christmas Masses:Vigil Mass
Midnight Mass
Mass at Dawn
Mass during the Day
If you watch social media or late
night TV you have likely seen or heard of the SNL skit that parodies the
‘annual Christmas trip to church’ in which we see persons such as Pastor Pat,
whose weak sermon is rivaled only by his weak jokes and the weak laughter from
the congregation, the organist who hits all the wrong notes, and the choir that
sings all 44 verses of ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’. I know some folks have
gotten upset saying that we shouldn’t talk about the holidays in such a way,
but if we can’t laugh at ourselves and our church’s quirkiness then I think
we’re in trouble. If you’ve seen the video I’m sure you can relate to some of the
things they joke about. But what struck me wasn’t so much the humorous aspect
so much as the underlying kernel of truth that our contemporary world
(especially my generation and younger) has a struggle connecting with the
Church. The world is routinely pulling folks father and farther from the faith
and that video spoke to me of that reality through the media of comedy. But
what strikes me even more is that every year at Christmas, what the skit notes
actually comes to pass: thousands upon thousands of people who don’t darken the
doors of a church throughout the year come into these sacred places and enter
into the celebration of Holy Mass. Every year churches fill back up, if only
for a day, because there is something that draws us here. It’s more than just
making our parents, spouse, or friends happy; it’s something deep within us
that compels us to come once more.
The other day we were setting up
here in the church and I was over playing with the nativity scene. This is
actually a favorite pastime of mine. At my home parish in Denham Springs there
was a large set of figurines from all sorts of gospel passages and a nice big
landscape with houses and all sorts of things. In the midst of the many
characters there were a great many little sheep. The lady who kept up with it
was a good friend and so I used to go and move the sheep around. She’d walk by
and find a sheep on a roof or in a tree. Or the man with arms outstretched in
prayer was now holding a sheep with each arm. And she’d see it and just shake her
head and say “Oh, Brent!” Well, that tendency came back and I picked up that
little lamb next to St. Joseph and put him in the empty manger, turned around
and said, “Behold, the lamb of God!” Those around me just laughed a bit and
probably thought ‘what are we gonna do with this crazy little priest?’ I smiled
and said, “I know. I know. He doesn’t belong there.” And so I put it back at
the feet of St. Joseph and we continued working.
Later that evening I was sitting
there praying with the empty manger and I began to think of how often I have
tried to fill up the empty space in my heart with things that didn’t belong
there. We all try it at some point and in some way, but it struck me the many
ways it had taken shape for me. We can do it with our sins: I’ll commit this
sin just one more time and then I’ll be happy…one more time…one more time… and
no matter how many times it is, it’s always one more time because it never
satisfies. We can do the same with possessions or wealth: many times I’ve
bought books, CD’s, shirts, concert tickets and more, all in the hope that I’ll
be filled even for a moment and yet come up empty. Sometimes it’s not sin or
things but intangibles: if I can just get a little more honor, power, respect,
etc. We can take these and so many things and make them our goals that we think
will ultimately bring us happiness and every one of them falls short because
the hole in our hearts can be filled by only one thing: the One True God.
The invitation for us, then, is
to do our best to recognize what truly brings fulfillment and to seek after it.
Though we’re often unaware, the manger scene speaks this message in the form of
the ox and the ass. Tradition nativities include these two animals not because
they were necessarily at the event itself but because of the words of the
prophet Isaiah: “The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master’s crib; but
Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” (1:3) The figures remind us
that they knew where to find their fulfillment but broken humanity still
wanders from place to place. G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “Every time a man
knocks on a brothel door, he is really searching for God.” The wandering that
we do, whether it leads to brothels or any number of other places, ultimately
manifests the reality that we’re searching for the peace of Christ Jesus and if
we stray 1001 times, filling our hearts with that which doesn’t satisfy, then
1001 times Christ comes to us and says, ‘I know what you’re looking for and
that this isn’t it. Come to me and I will give you rest.’
This rest is often sought as we
hear the words of God speaking through the psalmist: Be still and know
that I am God (Psalm 46). But in light of the feast we celebrate, it might behoove us to
make use of another translation of the original text from St. Jerome, one of
the Early Church Fathers. His translation says not ‘Be still and know that I am
God’ but rather ‘Be EMPTY and SEE that I am God.’ As we come today to celebrate
the entry into our world of the God-Man Jesus Christ, let us set aside those
things that we have so often sought as our fulfillment that we indeed might see
that He is God.
