In the inn of our hearts, there is an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying a manger.

           CHRISTMAS 2018

Last Wednesday evening was a moment of experiencing the Christmas mystery.  God was in our midst.  The children of St Joseph’s School were the bearers of the Christmas mystery in the school concert.  Our children in singing the very familiar Christmas music radiated the joy and mystery of Christmas for me.

It is by God’s design that our children are the beacons of God’s light and love.  When the Lord of history, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, broke the silence of the centuries and spoke in the darkness of that first Christmas night, he spoke through a vulnerable infant in a manger.

Going back to the school’s Christmas concert, what was my part in this beautiful, inspiring Christmas concert?  I simply listened – listened with my ears and listened with my heart.

I speak of the value of listening because listening is such an important dimension of the Christmas story, and listening is such an important component of the spiritual journey of each one of us.

When the angel Gabriel arrives to bring Mary the news that she will bear a child…she listens.

When the angel tells Joseph in his dreams what is about to happen…he listens.

The shepherds listen when the angel announces the “good news of great joy.”

In the passage immediately following this, they go out and tell the world what they have seen.

And the world listens.

Two thousand years later, we confront this stunning message – “Silent Night, Holy Night,” as the Christmas hymn describes it – and our hearts swell with the sentiment of the season.

We hear. But are we paying attention? Are we listening?

Christmas invites us to listen. To listen for God’s messengers. To listen for His good news.

And what good news it is: that God is with us! That we are no longer alone. That He has come into our lives, and into our world. “The grace of God has appeared,” Paul writes. Or as Isaiah puts it so beautifully: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”

This is the news we have been waiting for.

The news all of humanity has been listening for.

Think of how Christmas comes to us – if only we listen for it.

It comes to us with angels singing and an infant in a manger.

It comes to us with the clang of bells, a blare of trumpets. The rip of wrapping paper. The laughter of loved ones around the table.

We are to listen to the many ways the Christmas is spoken to us.

It comes on Christmas Eve, when a recovering alcoholic walks by a bar, and hears the laughter inside – but keeps on walking.

It is also there in the silence, when the one who used to share your life and your home is no longer there, and you find your heart full of sorrow and longing and memory – and into that, unexpectedly, comes Christmas. Quietly. Gently. Whispering with the angels: “Rejoice. Rejoice, because we are not alone. God is with us. Emmanuel.”

It comes to us as a family member shares that he or she wishes to live out one’s sexuality in a way that is different than your way.  May we be people who listen as did the shepherds to whom the angels wish to announce good news of a great joy to be shared by all people. 

It comes to me and to you in our disillusionment with the priests of our Church when they put children in harm’s way.  Even in this dark experience of Church, the light of Christ overcomes the darkness. 

May we listen to the Good News that today in David’s city and in your hearts and in your family, a Savior has been born who is Christ and Lord.

My friends, on this miraculous night, the message I want to leave with you is so simple: Listen. With your ears. And with your heart. Our salvation has been announced. What will we do with it?

Twenty centuries ago, shepherds listened, and told the world what they heard. Today we are the shepherds who listen to the Good News of the great joy that is to be shared.  We are the ones chosen to hear His good news – and to pass it on. It is news of wonder and hope. Of light breaking through darkness.

It is the sound of music filling the heavens. Of Hallelujahs in our hearts.

Listen for it. Surrender to the joy. Carry it with you out into the night.

In the inn of our hearts, there is an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  God is within us.  We give birth to Christ when we listen to the voice of the Christ child within us.  We are to share the Good News of the love of Jesus that is within us to our family, to our parish family, and to all of creation.

The message of Christmas is that Jesus comes for people in dark places.  The real, lasting, and deep joy of Christmas is that light shines in the darkness.   The Christmas story affirms that whatever happens, the light still shines.  Because of Christmas, it will never get so dark that you can’t see the light.

Yes, we have fears.  Yes, there is much messiness.  There is death; there is the diagnosis that frightens us; there is loneliness when relationships are broken.  But may we listen again to the Christmas story that is ageless and needs to be told again and again.  The Christmas story affirms that whatever happens, the light of Christ still shines.  Because of Christmas, it will never get so dark that you can’t see the light.

As we listen to the child wrapped in swaddling clothes that is within us, we can speak the language of love to each other, we share our giftedness with one another, and we gather around the Table of the Lord in awe and mystery to give thanks to the Lord our God.

And if we do, maybe one day when we come to the gates of heaven, we might hear God say to us:

“Thanks for listening.”