LUKE 2:1-14
WELCOME TO SAINT MARY'S.
WELCOME HOME.
I GREW UP IN MONTANA.
I WENT TO COLLEGE IN WASHINGTON, D.C., TO THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF
AMERICA. THE FIRST SEMESTER I WAS AWAY, EVEN AT THE RIPE OLD AGE OF
SEVENTEEN, I FELT HOMESICK AT TIMES. SOMETIMES MY HOMESICKNESS WAS
REALLY BAD, OTHER TIMES ALMOST NON-EXISTENT. BUT AS CHRISTMAS
APPROACHED, IT BUILT UP. I REMEMBER PACKING MY BAGS AND GETTING ON
THE TRAIN AND MAKING THAT TWO AND ONE HALF DAY TRIP ACROSS THE
COUNTRY. IT WAS A COLD DARK EVENING WHEN WE PULLED INTO THE STATION
IN HELENA. MY DAD HAD COME TO PICK ME UP. WE DROVE HOME AND WALKED
IN TO THE WARM INVITING HOUSE FILLED WITH THE SMELLS OF CHRISTMAS –
THE TREE, THE CANDLES, THE GINGERBREAD, THE FIREPLACE CRACKLING AWAY.
AND THERE WAS MY MOTHER AND MY TWO SISTERS, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WE
WERE A FAMILY AGAIN, AND I WAS HOME.
HUMAN BEINGS NEED A HOME,
IN FACT, MOST CREATURES DO. REMEMBER WHEN JESUS SAID, “FOXES HAVE
DENS AND BIRDS OF THE AIR HAVE THEIR NESTS, BUT THE SON OF MAN HAS
NOWHERE TO LAY HIS HEAD.” EVEN JESUS MISSED HIS HOME WHEN HE WAS
AWAY FROM IT. WE NEED HOMES, AND WE ARE HOMESICK WHEN WE ARE AWAY.
WHAT MAKES A HOME?
SURELY SIGHTS AND SMELLS AND FAMILIAR SURROUNDINGS HELP, BUT ISN'T IT
FUNDAMENTALLY ABOUT PEOPLE, PEOPLE WITH WHOM YOU CAN BE COMFORTABLE,
PEOPLE WHO ACCEPT YOU WITH ALL YOUR FAULTS AND STILL LOVE YOU?
THAT'S WHAT THE SHEPHERDS
FOUND WHEN THEY LEFT THE DARK PASTURES AND WENT TO THE MANGER. WHY
WAS THAT CHILD, THAT CHRIST CHILD, GIVEN TO US? WHY DID GOD BECOME
FIRST OF ALL A BABY? BABIES HAVE A WAY OF MAKING US FEEL AT HOME.
BABIES DON'T CARE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU HAVE OR WHAT TITLES YOU CLAIM.
THEY DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR CONSCIENCE, OR THAT YOU MAY BE
A TERRIBLE SINNER. THREE WEEKS AGO I BAPTIZED MY NEWEST GRANDCHILD,
AND IT WAS FUN TO WATCH OTHERWISE UNEMOTIONAL MEN MAKE FUNNY FACES TO
TRY TO GET A SMILE OUT OF HER, OR DIGNIFIED LADIES SPEAKING BABY
TALK. PEOPLE DROP THEIR MASKS AROUND BABIES, BECAUSE BABIES DON'T
JUDGE, THEY ONLY ACCEPT; AND IN RESPONSE WE GET IN TOUCH WITH OUR OWN
INNOCENCE FOR A MOMENT; AND MAYBE WE SEE OURSELVES AS GOD OUR FATHER
LOOKS ON US. GOD BECAME A BABY, THE FATHER GAVE US THIS CHILD, SO
THAT WE COULD BE AT HOME. IF WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE ARE NOT PART OF
THIS WORLD, AND SOMETHING IN US LONGS FOR OUR REAL HOME, OUR REAL
FATHER; AND HERE IN THIS CHURCH THE CHILD WELCOMES US, CALLS US TO
COME HOME FOR A LITTLE WHILE TO REST.
WHEN WE REALLY THINK
ABOUT IT, THAT WORLD OUT THERE IS A CONSTANT TEMPTATION FOR US TO
BECOME CYNICAL, FOR US TO LOSE OUR SENSE OF WONDER. ANOTHER
POLITICIAN IS FOUND TO HAVE AN ADULTEROUS RELATIONSHIP. ANOTHER
BISHOP IS ACCUSED OF COVERING UP A SCANDAL. A BELOVED FOOTBALL COACH
IS FOUND TO HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE CRIMES OF ONE OF HIS ASSISTANTS, BUT
COVERED IT UP. AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON. AND WE WONDER IF THERE
IS ANY NOBILITY LEFT IN THE WORLD, IF THERE ARE ANY CAUSES WORTHY
ENOUGH TO DEVOTE OURSELVES TO – OR IS WHAT THE WORLD SAYS TRUE –
IT IS EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF.
THAT'S WHERE OUR HOME
BECOMES SO IMPORTANT. HERE IN THIS BABY IS TRUE INNOCENCE; HERE IS
TRUE WONDER; HERE IS A CAUSE FOR WHICH WE CAN GIVE OUR LIVES. THE
CHILD WITH OPEN ARMS, WITH COMPLETE ACCEPTANCE, WITH UNCONDITIONAL
LOVE; THE CHILD WHO REVEALS WHAT KIND OF GOD WE WORSHIP. AND WE NEED
TO KEEP COMING BACK TO DRINK OF THIS INNOCENCE SO THAT WE ARE NOT
OVERCOME BY THAT WORLD THROUGH WHICH WE TRAVEL AS STRANGERS.
MY GRANDFATHER WAS NOT A
CHURCH-GOER. HE USED TO SAY THAT HE FELT CLOSEST TO GOD WHEN HE WAS
OUT IN THE WOODS, OR FISHING IN A MOUNTAIN STREAM. HE DIDN'T NEED A
CHURCH IN WHICH TO ENCOUNTER GOD. BUT HE WAS WRONG. JESUS TOLD US
THAT WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER, THERE HE IS. THE
SHEPHERDS WERE GIVEN THE NEWS THAT A CHILD HAD BEEN GIVEN TO THE
HUMAN RACE, BUT THEY HAD TO COME TOGETHER IN THE STABLE TO MAKE THAT
PROMISE REAL FOR THEMSELVES. GOD LOVES HIS PEOPLE BUT HE ESPECIALLY
LOVES THEM WHEN THEY ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS
SON. WE WHO WERE IN DARKNESS SEE A GREAT LIGHT, BUT ONLY HERE, ONLY
WHERE THE CHILD IS.
IT'S ALWAYS WONDERFUL TO
GO HOME, WHERE WE CAN LET DOWN OUR GUARD, WHERE WE CAN LOVE AND BE
LOVED, WHERE WE ARE UNCONDITIONALLY ACCEPTED. IT MAKES US STRONGER
PEOPLE, WE BECOME MORE CENTERED, MORE GROUNDED; WE BECOME RENEWED.
BECAUSE THAT IS THE RHYTHM OF THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN – TO COME
HOME, TO PUT DOWN OUR BURDENS, TO LAY ASIDE THE CARES OF THE WORLD.
AND THEN WE FEAST AT THE BANQUET TO WHICH WE HAVE BEEN INVITED; WE
RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION, WHERE WE BECOME ONE WITH THE CHILD, AND WITH
EACH OTHER; AND WE RECEIVE PART OF HIS LIGHT. AND, GOD WILLING, WHEN
WE LEAVE THIS SPIRITUAL HOME WE WILL CARRY THE LIGHT WITH US, SO THAT
WE CAN BRING INNOCENCE AND TRUTH AND GOODNESS INTO THE WORLD WHICH SO
DESPERATELY NEEDS THOSE THINGS.
THIS IS OUR HOME, NOT
BECAUSE OF THE BUILDING OR THE DECORATIONS OR THE SIGHTS AND SMELLS
AND SOUNDS, BUT BECAUSE OF THE CHILD WHO IS GIVEN TO US, WHO IS
ALWAYS HERE , AND HERE IN A SPECIAL WAY, TO WELCOME US FROM OUR
BURDENS, TO FEED US IN WORD AND SACRAMENT, AND TO SEND US FORTH
REFRESHED AND RENEWED.
THIS IS OUR HOME BECAUSE
THIS IS WHERE THE FATHER OF THAT CHILD INVITES US TO BE PART OF HIS
FAMILY, WHERE WE CAN BE WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND BE REMINDED
THAT THE FATHER LOVES EACH OF THEM WITHOUT HOLDING BACK, JUST AS HE
LOVES YOU; AND HOW CAN WE NOT LOVE THE ONES OUR FATHER CALLS HIS OWN.
THIS IS OUR HOME BECAUSE
WE HAVE A FAMILY RESEMBLANCE; THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US AND IS
CONSTANTLY MAKING US MORE LIKE THE CHILD WHO IS GIVEN TO US, THE
CHILD WHO MAKES US BECOME LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN, CHILDREN WHO FORGIVE,
WHO LIVE IN THE PRESENT, WHO LEARN TO TRUST THEIR FATHER.
WELCOME HOME, BROTHERS
AND SISTERS. AND COME OFTEN AND BE REFRESHED. THE CHILD IS ALWAYS
HERE FOR YOU AT SAINT MARY'S.
