Midnight Mass, Christmas, 2011

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.