DIOCESE OF GALLUP

Midnight Mass Homily

December 25, 2004

My Dear Friends,

     In the name of Father Lawrence O’Keefe and the entire staff here at Cathedral parish as well as the staff at the Diocesan Pastoral Center let me be the first to wish you all a blessed and joyful Christmas!

     The opening prayer for this midnight celebration and the very first words of the first scripture reading from Isaiah provides an important message and challenge for us let me repeat these in case you missed them.

     “Lord Our God, with the birth of your Son, your Glory breaks on the world. Through the night hours of the darkened earth we your people watch for the coming of your promised Son.” And from Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.”

     Have you ever experienced real, total darkness? In our modern 21^st century homes, we seldom, if ever experience total darkness, unless you live in some of the homes on parts of our Navajo Reservation. Light is available to us at the touch of a switch. Outdoors, there is street lighting and light from neighboring houses. Even in a darkened house, there is the glow of a nightlight or the light of a clock display.

     At some time, we have all experienced an electrical power outage. When I was provincial superior of my religious community before coming to Gallup as bishop, I often was in Manila, the Philippines for Christmas. What folks there referred to as “black outs” happen regularly. If the power outage is at night, it seems like we are suddenly plunged into a dark abyss we are startled by an event that often makes no sound and we can become immediately disoriented in our most familiar surroundings. It is difficult to move around a darkened room, especially if the room is unfamiliar to us and even a familiar room can become frightening in the darkness. When the power returns, the lights come back on and the room is revealed. The light did not change anything; it simply revealed what was already there.

     So it was a long time ago, Jesus came into our world and lit the darkness. The world before Jesus knew God, but in dim glimmers. God was not yet fully revealed.

     Christmas celebrates the fact that the infinite God, at a specific moment in time, crossed an unimaginable border and personally entered into our world. Once again, the reading from Isaiah opens with these words: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.”

     The people of Jesus’ time were drawn to that light. What happens anytime there is light in the darkness? People are drawn to the light, our attention is riveted. Imagine then the incredible moment of the light of God’s presence, fully revealed, breaking into a darkened world.

     Where is the light of God’s presence now? Do we stand and wait for a miraculous reappearance of God’s light to again dispel the darkness each of us encounters? No! The light of God’s presence is you and I. At the moment of Jesus death and resurrection the light was passed to his followers, to you and me. At the moment of our baptism, we become the light. What Jesus was to the world of his time, he wants us to be to the world of our time, yes, even here in Gallup and in the Four Corners of the Southwest. We are to be as beams of light in the midst of darkness.

     Christmas is an invitation for each one of us to be for our world what Jesus was for his world; a beam of light in the midst of darkness. A ray of hope in the midst of despair. If Jesus is to be present in today’s world, it must be through us. To the extent that we heed the invitation of Christmas, to that extent will the world receive the gift of Christmas.

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	Midnight Mass Homily December 25, 2004 My Dear Friends, In the name of Father Lawrence O’Keefe and the entire staff here at Cathedral parish as well as the staff at the Diocesan Pastoral Center let me be the first to wish you all a blessed and joyful Christmas! The opening prayer for this midnight celebration and the very first words of the first scripture reading from Isaiah provides an important message and challenge for us let me repeat these in case you missed them. “Lord Our God, with the birth of your Son, your Glory breaks on the world. Through the night hours of the darkened earth we your people watch for the coming of your promised Son.” And from Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.” Have you ever experienced real, total darkness? In our modern 21^st century homes, we seldom, if ever experience total darkness, unless you live in some of the homes on parts of our Navajo Reservation. Light is available to us at the touch of a switch. Outdoors, there is street lighting and light from neighboring houses. Even in a darkened house, there is the glow of a nightlight or the light of a clock display. At some time, we have all experienced an electrical power outage. When I was provincial superior of my religious community before coming to Gallup as bishop, I often was in Manila, the Philippines for Christmas. What folks there referred to as “black outs” happen regularly. If the power outage is at night, it seems like we are suddenly plunged into a dark abyss we are startled by an event that often makes no sound and we can become immediately disoriented in our most familiar surroundings. It is difficult to move around a darkened room, especially if the room is unfamiliar to us and even a familiar room can become frightening in the darkness. When the power returns, the lights come back on and the room is revealed. The light did not change anything; it simply revealed what was already there. So it was a long time ago, Jesus came into our world and lit the darkness. The world before Jesus knew God, but in dim glimmers. God was not yet fully revealed. Christmas celebrates the fact that the infinite God, at a specific moment in time, crossed an unimaginable border and personally entered into our world. Once again, the reading from Isaiah opens with these words: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.” The people of Jesus’ time were drawn to that light. What happens anytime there is light in the darkness? People are drawn to the light, our attention is riveted. Imagine then the incredible moment of the light of God’s presence, fully revealed, breaking into a darkened world. Where is the light of God’s presence now? Do we stand and wait for a miraculous reappearance of God’s light to again dispel the darkness each of us encounters? No! The light of God’s presence is you and I. At the moment of Jesus death and resurrection the light was passed to his followers, to you and me. At the moment of our baptism, we become the light. What Jesus was to the world of his time, he wants us to be to the world of our time, yes, even here in Gallup and in the Four Corners of the Southwest. We are to be as beams of light in the midst of darkness. Christmas is an invitation for each one of us to be for our world what Jesus was for his world; a beam of light in the midst of darkness. A ray of hope in the midst of despair. If Jesus is to be present in today’s world, it must be through us. To the extent that we heed the invitation of Christmas, to that extent will the world receive the gift of Christmas. Back