Christmas at Dawn, 2012

LUKE 2:15-20

ON CHRISTMAS DAY WE CELEBRATE A MYSTERY. WHEN WE TRY TO PUT IT INTO WORDS, IT SEEMS TO MAKE IT TRIVIAL. GOD BECAME ONE OF US. THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE BECAME A MAN WHO LIVED AND DIED 2000 YEARS AGO; THE NATURE OF THAT UNION WAS SUCH THAT THE CHURCH INSISTED THAT MARY GAVE BIRTH TO GOD; SHE IS THE THEOTOKOS, THE GOD-BEARER.

THIS MYSTERY GOES ON. WE CAN ASK WHY THIS HAPPENED? WHY DID GOD BECOME MAN, AND WE TALK ABOUT ORIGINAL SIN AND WE MENTION THAT FOR ALL THOSE YEARS THE PEOPLE GOD CHOSE WERE UNABLE TO REMAIN FAITHFUL TO HIM BY SIMPLY FOLLOWING RULES; WE STUDY THE DRAMA OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, AND FOR US IT ALL MAKES SENSE WHEN WE RELATE IT TO CHRIST.

THE MYSTERY GOES ON. JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD, AND THE SPIRIT THAT HAD CONCEIVED HIM IN MARY'S WOMB ENTERED INTO HIS FOLLOWERS, AND THEY BECAME TRANSFORMED. AND THE SPIRIT IS STILL ACTING ON HIS FOLLOWERS, STILL CONCEIVING JESUS IN THEM.

THE MYSTERY GOES ON. BECAUSE GOD BECAME MATTER, SOMETHING HAPPENED NOT ONLY TO HUMAN BEINGS, BUT TO THE UNIVERSE ITSELF. OUR MATERIAL WORLD TAKES ON SOMETHING OF DIVINITY. AND SOMEHOW THIS INCARNATION, THIS GOD ENTERING FLESH, ENTERING MATTER, IS DONE FOR A PURPOSE; IN SOME WAY GOD GATHERS ALL HIS CREATION INTO HIMSELF FOR ALL ETERNITY; JESUS SPOKE ABOUT THIS WHEN HE PREDICTED THAT WHEN HE WAS LIFTED UP, HE WOULD DRAW ALL THINGS TO HIMSELF, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT LOVE DOES.

WHEN I WAS ATTENDING SAINT HELENA GRADE SCHOOL, WE HAD A LOT OF DEVOTIONS TO THE BLESSED MOTHER. WE LEARNED ABOUT HER APPEARANCES AT LOURDES AND FATIMA; MEDJUGORE HADN'T HAPPENED YET. STATUES AND HOLY CARDS ALL DEPICTED MARY AS YOU SEE HER DEPICTED AROUND THIS CHURCH; WEARING A LONG ROBE, HEAD COVERED, A LOVING EXPRESSION ON HER FACE. OUR STATUES AND HOLY CARDS SEEM TO MAKE MARY SOMETHING FAR MORE THAN HUMAN. AN OLD POEM DESCRIBED MARY AS THE MOON THAT REFLECTED THE SUN WHO IS JESUS.

SINCE WE BELIEVE MARY WAS SINLESS FROM THE MOMENT OF HER CONCEPTION, WE BELIEVE SHE WAS THE MOST PERFECT HUMAN BEING. AND FOR US, PERFECTION MEANS PHYSICAL BEAUTY AND A BRILLIANT MIND. YOU MAY REMEMBER AN OLD MARIAN HYMN THAT I ALWAYS LOVED THAT STARTS OUT “ON THIS DAY, O BEAUTIFUL MOTHER...”

BUT WHEN MARY WALKED THE EARTH, SHE WAS NOT NECESSARILY A GREAT BEAUTY. SHE WAS NOT NECESSARILY A GENIUS, LIKE EINSTEIN OR THOMAS AQUINAS. AS FAR AS WE CAN TELL SHE SPENT HER LIFE JUST LIKE OTHER PEASANT WOMEN, COOKING, CLEANING, SEWING, WEAVING – DOING EVERYTHING SHE COULD TO HELP JOSEPH MAKE A LIVING. VERY PROBABLY SHE COULD NOT EVEN READ; MOST WOMEN COULDN'T IN THOSE DAYS, AND INDEED, NEITHER COULD MOST MEN.

BEAUTY AND INTELLIGENCE ARE NOT REALLY THINGS YOU CAN MEASURE ON A SCALE ANYWAY. BUT MARY WAS PERFECT WHERE IT MATTERS. SHE HAD WISDOM. SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE SAINT LUKE, THE AUTHOR OF THIS GOSPEL, MUST HAVE KNOWN MARY PERSONALLY, BECAUSE THE CHRISTMAS STORY AND ALL THE INFORMATION HE WROTE ABOUT THE INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD OF JESUS COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN LEARNED FROM MARY. AND LUKE MENTIONS IN TODAY'S READING THAT AFTER THE APPEARANCE OF THE ANGELS TO THE SHEPHERDS, MARY PONDERS THESE THINGS IN HER HEART. LUKE TELLS US THIS AGAIN AFTER MARY AND JOSEPH FIND JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. HE EVEN USES THIS WORD AT THE ANNUNCIATION, WHEN MARY “PONDERED “ WHAT MANNER OF GREETING THE ANGEL GAVE HER. AND I THINK HE EMPHASIZES THIS BECAUSE HE LEARNED FROM MARY THAT THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH A MYSTERY.

HE DOES NOT SAY THAT SHE PONDERED THESE THINGS IN HER MIND. I THINK WE DO TOO MUCH OF THAT. WHEN WE STAND BEFORE A MYSTERY, WE WANT AN EXPLANATION. IF JESUS IS PRESENT WHERE BREAD AND WINE ONCE WERE, HOW CAN THAT BE? IF GOD IS ONE, AND AT THE SAME TIME HE IS A COMMUNITY OF THREE PERSONS – WELL, BOOKS AND BOOKS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THAT, AND NO ONE HAS YET FIGURED OUT HOW IT CAN BE. BUT NOT FOR LACK OF TRYING.

MARY PONDERS MYSTERY IN HER HEART. WHEN SHE CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHAT NO ONE CAN UNDERSTAND, SHE DOES NOT REJECT IT AS TOO DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE AND THEREFORE NOT WORTH BELIEVING; NOR DOES SHE SPEND HOURS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW IT CAN BE, WHAT THE LOGICAL EXPLANATION IS; SHE SIMPLY STANDS BEFORE IT AND LOOKS FOR GOD IN THE MYSTERY.

AND WE CAN IMAGINE YOUNG LUKE, NOT A JEW, PROBABLY A GREEK, PROBABLY SCHOOLED IN THE ANALYTIC METHODS OF PLATO, SITTING WITH AN OLD LADY IN A SMALL HOUSE IN WHAT IS NOW TURKEY, TRYING TO LEARN ABOUT JESUS' CHILDHOOD. AND MARY ANSWERS HIS QUESTIONS IN SIMPLE WORDS. AND LUKE ASKS, “HOW CAN THIS BE?” AND SHE SIMPLY SMILES, AND SAYS, “”THAT'S JUST THE WAY IT WAS.”

DO YOU REMEMBER THAT SONG BY THE BEATLES? “WHEN I FIND MYSELF IN TIMES OF TROUBLE, MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME, SPEAKING WORDS OF WISDOM, 'LET IT BE.' AND IN MY HOUR OF DARKNESS SHE IS STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, SPEAKING WORDS OF WISDOM, 'LET IT BE.'” IF WE WANT A MYSTERY TO AFFECT US, THE FIRST THING TO DO IS LET IT BE.

WHEN I GIVE A SERMON SOMETIMES IT COMES MORE FROM MY MIND THAN MY HEART. AND SOMETIMES THAT'S GOTTEN ME IN TROUBLE NOW AND THEN. NOT LONG AGO A PARISHIONER POINTED OUT THAT I HAD SPOKEN OF DOGMA, AND SHE WANTED FAITH. HER HOPE FROM A SERMON WAS TO COME AWAY WITH A NUGGET THAT COULD NOURISH HER ON HER OWN JOURNEY, WHICH SHE RIGHTLY RECOGNIZED WAS UNION WITH OUR GREAT LOVER, JESUS. SHE PROBABLY KNEW MORE ABOUT MARY'S APPROACH TO MYSTERY THAN I DID.

SO TODAY WE CELEBRATE A GREAT MYSTERY, PERHAPS THE GREATEST OF OUR FAITH, THE MYSTERY OF INCARNATION, OF GOD BECOMING MAN, OF GOD BINDING HIMSELF TO HIS CREATION, OF GOD SETTING IN MOTION HIS PLAN TAKE THE FINITE AND MAKE IT INFINITE. AND THERE IS NO WAY WORDS CAN ENCOMPASS THAT. ALL WE CAN DO IS PONDER – TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERY WITH OUR HEARTS. AND MARY CAN TEACH US HOW TO DO THIS. THE MORE WE PONDER THE MYSTERY, THE MORE WE SEE THAT WE ARE ON HOLY GROUND, THE MORE WE FEEL IN OUR OWN HEARTS THE PRESENCE OF THE GOD WHO IS ALL IN ALL.

SO MERRY CHRISTMAS, OF COURSE, BUT TAKE HOME WITH YOU THE MYSTERY, AND PONDER IT TODAY, TOMORROW, AND EVERY DAY, FOR GOD HAS CHOSEN TO BE WITH US.