Luke 2:1-14
Why do people come out in the middle
of the night when you would normally be in a nice warm bed? After
all, you could attend Mass at a much more convenient time if you
wanted to. And yet, here we are. I don't know about you, but my
reason, and just so you know I would be here even if I weren't the
preacher, is because it brings back memories of other Christmases,
together with the feelings and thoughts that go with them.. It
reminds me of people who shared Christmas with me in the past, most
of whom have passed away. But behind all these memories and feelings
is a certain something – which is there when you peel everything
else away. Remember this Hebrew word: Yirat.
Religion really consists of two
dimensions: Most of us spend our time in the dimension that has to
do with us loving God and our neighbor. We pray, we fast, we donate
time and money, we come to Mass and participate in the sacraments.
That's where I find myself most of the time. In this dimension we
are reaching out to God, we are trying to respond to his great love.
But in the other dimension, God
reaches out to us. The great mystics knew about this; that's all
mysticism is, anyway, becoming sensitive to God's act of loving me.
And that's something I experience, and hopefully you do as well, at
Midnight Mass on Christmas.
Mystical experiences are all around
us. I've had them out in nature – which is not surprising, because
God is revealed in his creation, he is present in his creation, and
when you aren't being bombarded by the sounds and sights of
civilization you sometimes sense his presence. Sometimes when you
are in the presence of someone you love you may feel God's touch.
And that's not surprising; after all God is love itself, so where
love is happening, God is there. Many people, myself included,
sometimes experience God's presence when we are learning something
and suddenly we understand something in a different way – we have
an insight that seemed to come out of nowhere. And that's not
surprising; God is truth itself, and as we struggle for
understanding, we sometimes touch God. And some of us feel his
presence when we are experiencing beauty – not surprising of
course. God is the source of beauty. So remember that word, Yirat.
People who are mystics learn to
cultivate the experience of God, who is always reaching out to us,
who is always loving us, who holds us in his arms like a mother holds
a child. And look what the Church does at Midnight Mass: First, we
hold it at night – the darkness shuts out the world, it blankets us
in intimacy. We change everything we can – trees with lights in
our sanctuary. Music we don't hear any other time of the year.
Incense. The chanted Proclamation. Most of us wear our best
clothing. And we set up a manger scene.
Look at the manger scene. There is
the angel reminding us that we celebrate the breaking through of
heaven into our world. There is an ox and a donkey – it reminds us
of that passage from Isaiah in which God laments: the ox knows its
master and the donkey knows it's master's stall, but my people do not
know me. And God seeks to remedy that by becoming knowable, by
becoming human. We see the shepherds – who during those days were
the lowest of the low – unclean and poor; and we remember that Mary
prophesied that God would lift up the lowly. And of course there is
a lamb frolicking – reminding us that Jesus is the lamb of God, and
Jesus is the lamb who was slain and leads the nations of the world.
But look at Mary. She usually wears a blue or white mantle, because
she is the especially beloved of God. And she holds her hands over
her breast, because we know she will ponder all these things in her
heart. And she gazes at the child in the manger – the manger from
which the animals eat – which now contains the bread of heaven.
Remember that word, Yirat.
Do you remember the gifts of the Holy
Spirit? Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety
and fear of the Lord. I never had a problem with the first six, but
Fear of the Lord? Why does God want me to fear him? But that's
probably not a good translation of the Hebrew word, Yirat. When we
see the word being used in the Old Testament, it is sometimes used to
describe people who are in a fearful situation, but more commonly it
refers to the experience people have when they come into the presence
of God. Moses experienced it when he approached the burning bush;
Elijah when he heard the voice of God in the gentle breeze that
followed thunder and lightning. And I suspect Mary and Joseph
experienced it that night when Jesus was born – especially when the
great company of the heavenly host began praising God.
Yirat is a gift, just like the other
gifts of the Holy Spirit. Like the other gifts, it enhances
something that is natural in us. It is a gift that allows to be more
sensitive to the presence of God. It's the reaction that comes when
we experience the Holy. It's one of the reasons we human beings have
liturgy – we try to create the conditions so that we are more
sensitive to God's touch. Because he touches us all the time, and
wants us to know. A mother who holds her sleeping baby loves the
baby just as much as when he is awake and smiling at her, but when
that happens there is something new and wonderful – and God our
Father is like that; we please him when we love him back.
So tonight during this Midnight Mass,
this time when we remember that God chose to enter our world because
he wants to be with us and share everything, good and bad, that goes
along with being human – tonight let us experience that Yirat, that
Fear of the Lord, in the mystery we celebrate.
At communion time you will hear David,
our cantor, sing “Mary Did You Know..” The person who wrote the
lyrics was standing before a manger scene just as you are today, and
imagined himself asking these questions of our Blessed Mother. When
you hear this musical meditation, make those questions your own and
experience the gift of Yirat, of fear of the Lord. That is the gift
God seeks to give you tonight, the gift of his presence, the gift of
himself in Mary's Baby Boy.
Mary,
did you know
that
your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary,
did you know
that
your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did
you know
that
your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This
Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary,
did you know
that
your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary,
did you know
that
your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did
you know
that
your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When
you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?
Mary
did you know
The
blind will see.
The
deaf will hear.
The
dead will live again.
The
lame will leap.
The
dumb will speak
The
praises of The Lamb.
Mary,
did you know
that
your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary,
did you know
that
your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did
you know
that
your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
The
sleeping Child you're holding is the great "I am"
