The Continuing Movement of God

 HOMILY, ST. PAUL’S, FOLEY – CHRISTMAS EVE, YEAR B

DECEMBER 24, 2020 

 

TEXT:                        Luke 2:1-20

 

 

            The accumulation of years wears down the mystery of this sacred night.

 

            In many, many ways our children are closer to the wonder that is Christmas.

 

            I yearn to recapture the awe that I felt as a child.  Not just the anticipation of presents which would come, but the numinous feeling I felt as I awaited my grandparents’ arrival on Christmas Eve, and as I sat on the front porch with my father, gazing up into the clear, crisp, cold, dark night sky.  Which star was it, I wondered?

 

            Yes, years bring accretions… layer upon layer… of human experience.  Our senses are dulled by the anesthesia of life. Things seldom amaze us or touch us deeply.  A child is so much closer to the source. Young eyes are open to the wonder. Their eyes are unclouded by the cataracts of years.

 

            We tend to focus on a child in a crib.  It is, indeed, that – but so much more.  The birth of that child in a stable in the small village of Bethlehem – surrounded by farm animals and shepherds – was not the beginning… and it certainly was not the end.

 

            It was another chapter in God’s story.  It was not a plot twist which the Divine One had inserted into faith history. It was a continuation – part of the endless fabric of God’s movement in the world.

 

            It continued…

 

            It continued from the majestic act of creation, which brought all worlds, all elements, all matter into creation.

 

            It continued the divine promise that God made to Abraham on that starlit desert night.

 

            It continued the voice of the one who proclaimed “I am who I am” to Moses from the burning bush which was not consumed.

 

            It continued the echoed voices of the prophets, who called for peace, righteousness and justice.

 

            And it would continue beyond that stable on that night of new life.

 

            It would continue as the baby, born that night, became a man and taught, healed, and ministered throughout a small patch of Middle East land.

 

            It would continue on a cross, on a rocky hill, outside of Jerusalem’s walls.

 

            It would continue with an empty tomb – left vacant by a risen Lord.

 

            And it would continue in the tongues of flame dancing on the heads of the apostles on that first Christian Pentecost.

 

            The point is this:  The mystery of that first Christmas night preceded and followed it, with God’s wonderful works throughout time.  And it continues today… and from this day forward. It is with us this night.