We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! The two run together so naturally. Another year; who would have thought it so
soon? The parish calendars came in, right after Thanksgiving. I hope you have picked one up by now; they
are pretty good this year. I am grateful
to the folks at Collins for providing them to us each year!
Already it is going to be 2014. Since I am a history buff, my mind runs
immediately to realize this is the centenary of the outbreak of World War
I. We are also still in the midst of the
sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Okay,
that may not be what is on your mind as we celebrate these holy days of peace
and joy, but in my own defense I ask, how better to mark what peace we do have,
than by recalling some of the alternatives?
But a day, a date, a calendar
-- they signify something. What
will this year mean when folks look back on it?
What great historical events will have unfolded before us? Closer to home, that question is easier to
answer, especially for some of our families.
June 4, July 22, July 25, September 12, November 9, November 23,
and December 8 are already marked as world-changing, at least for the MacMillan,
Mariconti, Baker, DellaCrosse, Beegle, Dennis, and Petnuch families,
respectively. On those days, they
welcomed newborn family members, new lives, never before seen on the face of
the earth; lives whose unfolding lies before them, wrapped in mystery and
promise.
Their calendars are already marked, though not by pen or
text. Their calendars are marked by life
and grace, and those days forever changed.
The very year that begins, 2014, is marked by the count of years
since the world was changed by a life who is Life Himself. The way, the truth, and the life lay suckling
at the breast of the mother who gave Him flesh.
The world was changed, but the
unfolding of that life still lay wrapped in mystery and promise.
We call it AD 2014, or Anno Domini, the Year of Our Lord. Every day, every date is changed by that day
and what it welcomed into the light of day.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it. (Jn 1:5)
Our celebrations of this day and this birth unfold in real time. The liturgy of the Church marks hour by hour
the entry into time of the eternal, that is, timeless God. Listen to the prayers, listen to the texts at
the Mass you attend.
The five and nine o’clock Masses on Christmas Eve are Masses of
Vigil, that is, keeping watch for what is about to happen. Christ is about to be born, and all the
promises and prophecies of God to come and live with, come and save his people,
are pregnant with the expectation of fulfillment.
It is in the silence of the night that God arrvives. The Mass at Midnight welcomes the birth of Christ. So few witnesses are present for the actual
event; only the parents, and the animals of the stall, in whose feed-trough He
is laid, foreshadowing the Eucharistic food His flesh is to become. Even the first to come, the shepherds who
receive the news from the angels, arrive after the fact.
And so do all the other witnesses, all the rest of the world,
learn about the birth of the Savior when the long darkness of the winter night
gives way to the morning light. The Mass
at Dawn, here at 8:15, rejoices in these encounters.
And ever since, we have lived in the light of love of God, made
visible in the person of Christ. The
Mass of Christmas Day, at eleven o’clock in the full light of the midwinter sun,
weak by comparison, finds the work of salvation already underway, much as is
the day itself, the feast, and the celebration well underway by that late
hour. Those who come are already
rejoicing, their anticipation satisfied, the gift received, the great Guest
welcomed.
Each hour, each Mass, has a distinct character, as time itself
is sanctified by the arrival of the living God.
Each is a new encounter, a new beginning of salvation.
Each day God, who has entered the world and entered time,
arrives to enter our lives. Each day new
lives are welcomed into His world, arriving as he did, helpless, but bearing
hope. Every life has the promise of the
fullness of joy, the delight of peace, and the perfection of life that this one
life made available that one day.
So we mark all our days and all our years from that day of that
year. This Year of the Lord can and will
be for each of us also a Year of Grace. Because God is with us.
And so speaking for Fathers McDonell and McCabe, all the
pastoral staff and parochial team here at Saint Bernadette, it is my happy
duty and blessed pleasure to assure you that I pray for you and your family,
those closest to you, and those who are too far away, all the peace and joy of
this truly holy day, and with an eye on the hand of the Infant King upon you,
to wish you a Merry Christmas, and a happy, holy, and joyful New Year.
Monsignor Smith
