Christmas Midnight Mass 2010
SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON December 24th 2010
Isaiah 9:2 “The People who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shined.”
In the Church’s liturgy, there are two special services held at night, which evoke the image of light in darkness. The first, of course, is tonight’s Midnight Mass at Christmas. The second is the wonderful service of the Easter Vigil, on the Saturday night of Easter.
The Easter Vigil is a service of candlelight. It begins with a fire outside the church, followed by the great procession of the Easter Candle into a completely dark church. Eventually, the church becomes a sea of candlelight as each person receives a lighted candle. Thus the resurrection of Christ is proclaimed by candlelight.
By contrast, candles are not held at this Midnight Mass. There are lots of candles everywhere, but the theme here is not the same as Easter. What the Midnight Mass proclaims is the birth of Christ as light in darkness. In the midst of winter, the image of snow and candles convey the reality of the prophecy from Isaiah: The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.
Sometimes, it would seem that our land is a land of deep darkness. This year has been a dark year for many people, in many countries. I don’t just mean reports of war and civil unrest, or the denial of democracy, or the threat of terrorism. Not even the moral decline in our cities today. These are just signs and symptoms of a deeper darkness.
No, it is actually simpler than that. It’s the way people are less inclined to open their arms to others, or in the way people treat each other, or speak about people who they disagree with or do not like. We have become a much harder society, a less compassionate society.
I’m not really sure that this year is any worse than previous years. Sin has always been around. It is always a reality. Evil is always beyond the horizon, lurking.
This I do know: Christmas brings us back to what really abides in a dark world.
For the chorus of peace on earth and good will towards men comes to us in a simple way. It’s the birth of a child. It’s simple – like light breaking into the darkness. So Isaiah’s prophesy is the message of this Midnight Mass.
We come to church tonight, hoping that light will shine on a world that seems to be dark, and sometimes living in the shadows.
Christmas will not immunize us from the problems of the world – but its message gives us hope that those problems do not abide, and that there are greater things that do abide.
In Bethlehem, God’s love is revealed in the most simplest of ways. So tonight is a night for hoping and dreaming – as Christians always have.
This is that moment when the invisible and eternal God, who created us, becomes flesh, in solidarity with us, and with our hopes and our dreams.
One example of our hopes and dreams comes from childhood. I refer here to the book by C. S. Lewis called, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In the story there is a Christmas scene. Santa Claus gives presents to Peter, Susan and Lucy. Peter, the oldest, received a sword and a shield. On the shield was a red lion, which was the symbol of Aslan. Susan received a quiver of arrows and an ivory horn. Lucy received a small dagger and a bottle of liquid. Their Christmas gifts were tools for battle. So C. S. Lewis connects Christmas with the battle of good and evil, which is so vividly displayed in his novels.
Not only were their Christmas gifts to be used in battle, they were given for the benefit of others. In particular, Lucy’s bottle contained a liquid that could heal any injury or disease.
In the climax of the story, Peter and Susan use their gifts in the battle against evil. While Lucy used her liquid to heal the wounds of those hurt in the battle. In the end, the battle was won and the Lion was victorious.
In Ephesians 6:12, St. Paul says, “We fight against the powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness.” It’s a battle between good and evil. And in fighting that battle, we win. That is the promise of Christmas. That is why tonight brings light into darkness.
To doubt that God can bring good from evil, and joy from sorrow, is to doubt that he made the world in the first place. Genesis says that at the end of creation, God saw all he had made, and it was very good. To doubt that God can bring good from evil and joy from sorrow is also to doubt that God came to this world all those years ago in Bethlehem. In that coming, he could not avoid all the pain and evil of the world any more than we can today. In Jesus, God identifies with the battle – and with our sins, sorrows, sadness, disappointments and trials.
That same Jesus rose from the dead and triumphs over this world’s darkness forever. That is why in the life of Jesus, as celebrated in the Church, the beginning and the end of his life is bathed in candlelight.
Coming to Midnight Mass tonight is not just an act of hope on our part. It is also our way of connecting to that light, which is Jesus. In connecting with Him who is the light, we also connect with each other. No matter our trials and no matter how weak our faith, Jesus unites us.
Connecting with Jesus tonight is an act of faith, hope and love. For that is what the battle and victory of good over evil depends on.
Faith, hope and love are truly the secret to light in the darkness.