Over the course of the year I think that it is safe to say that from time to time most of us could just use a hug. You may have people in your own life who are quick to say ‘I need a hug’. I wonder if you ever thought about Christmas as a hug from a loving God. God has hugged the human race and taken us all to his breast forever. I don’t think that it could be said of me that I view life through rose-colored glasses. I think that I am a realist. But I know that life can be tough for you. There are plenty of problems in our world as certainly in our personal lives as well. But how can we possibly be cynical or disenchanted on a day like this? How can we size the world up as being ugly or gray, or only hear the cries of human clamoring and striving?
Do you think that our world is any worse off than the world to which the prophet Isaiah prophesized in the first reading? After decades of exile he could still hold out this wondrous hope for the people. A child has been born for us, a son given to us even though the fulfillments of that prophesy would not dawn for another thousand years. We are filled with the hope today because the Gospel tells us that The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And this changes everything.
Each year as I prepare to preach on Christmas my thoughts usually run to the world as it is. Perhaps we are seemingly worse off that we were last year. I do know that there is a kind of world weariness out there that can be kind of crippling. Perhaps you might see it as a spiritual malaise or at least a growing cynicism. Perhaps it is better described as a kind of disenchantment. I think that disenchantment and sin really share the same bed. In the Garden of Eden was it disenchantment that came first or was it sin? Did disenchantment lead to sin or does sin result in disenchantment? Decembers can be a rough time for families. It is hardly the peaceful season. We can feel fragmented, irritated and sometimes even close to being depressed.
And yet my brothers and sisters if there is ever a time to become re-enchanted again it is at Christmas. It is a good time to ask the question as to whether or not there is any real hope out there. What might help you to frame this question is a brief look at the world onto which Jesus Christ was born. It was hardly the world of the Christmas cards. There are lots of similarities between that world and our own. Peace was little more than a dream. Nations were rivals at best and enemies at worse. Rulers, with few exceptions were worthless opportunists, not leaders. It was a world of great suffering. Poverty was nearly universal and hunger was a constant threat. People who lived in this kind of darkness looked for any light. The world had grown deaf to celestial music and blind to sins and wonders.
It was into this world that the Lord chose to be born. With his birth he gives this world a gift, given and received. The gift that Jesus Christ brings to the world is the gift of hope. In spite of all of our setbacks and problems, in spite of our personal struggles, our family struggles, the problems and injustice that exist in our world, we have all been given a great gift from a loving God. That gift is the promise of a better world, a better time, a new hope each and every year we celebrate.
What is the gift that we then can give to the world, the gift that world is so much in need of? It is the gift of hope and joy. The world out there looks to us for this gift. We have it in our power to give, because we have witnessed the love of God in our midst. More importantly Jesus depends on us to give this gift, this wonderful Christmas gift to others. We know how the story of Jesus begins and we know how it will end. It begins with promise and it ends with salvation and life. If there is anyone who should be a hopeful people it is you and me, the redeemed and saved.
In closing I would like to leave you with an assignment and perhaps a bit of challenge. In your own circle of family life and love, or in your extended family, look for one person who is in need of a witness to hope. Step out in faith. You do have a gift to give at Christmas and it is within your power to give it. You and I have been richly blessed. Now we must share this blessing with others. On behalf of our priests, Father Butler, Father Plesa and myself as well as our entire parish staff we extend to each of you best wishes for a Blessed Christmas and New Year.