Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

Our deadline schedules for bulletins this Christmas were very early, and I never had a chance to read the Pope's Midnight Mass homily until we were already opening the boxes of bulletins. It is perfect; please allow me to print it here. It is never too late to be changed by the love of God. Pass this message on.

Happy new year, and God bless you.

“Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined” (Is 9:1). The prophecy we heard in the first reading was fulfilled in the Gospel: as shepherds kept watch over their flocks by night, “the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Lk 2:9). In the midst of our earthly night, a light appeared from heaven. What is the meaning of this light that shone in the darkness? Saint Paul tells us: “The grace of God has appeared.” The grace of God, “bringing salvation to all” (Tit 2:11), has shone on our world this night.

But what is this grace? It is divine love, the love that changes lives, renews history, liberates from evil, fills hearts with peace and joy. Tonight the love of God has been revealed to us: it is Jesus. In Jesus, the Most High made himself tiny, so that we might love him. But we can still ask ourselves: why does Saint Paul describe the coming of God into our world as “grace”? To tell us that it is utterly free. Whereas on earth everything seems to be about giving in order to get, God comes down freely. His love is non-negotiable: we did nothing to deserve it and we will never be able to repay it.

The grace of God has appeared. Tonight we realize that, when we failed to measure up, God became small for our sake; while we were going about our own business, he came into our midst. Christmas reminds us that God continues to love us all, even the worst of us. To me, to you, to each of us, he says today: “I love you and I will always love you, for you are precious in my eyes.”

God does not love you because you think and act the right way. He loves you, plain and simple. His love is unconditional; it does not depend on you. You may have mistaken ideas, you may have made a complete mess of things, but the Lord continues to love you. How often do we think that God is good if we are good and punishes us if we are bad. Yet that is not how he is. For all our sins, he continues to love us. His love does not change. It is not fickle; it is faithful. It is patient. This is the gift we find at Christmas. We discover to our amazement that the Lord is absolute gratuity, absolute tender love. His glory does not overwhelm us; his presence does not terrify us. He is born in utter poverty in order to win our hearts by the wealth of his love.

The grace of God has appeared. Grace is a synonym of beauty. Tonight, in the beauty of God’s love, we also discover our own beauty, for we are beloved of God. For better or worse, in sickness and in health, whether happy or sad, in his eyes we are beautiful, not for what we do but for what we are. Deep within us, there is an indelible and intangible beauty, an irrepressible beauty, which is the core of our being. Today God reminds us of this. He lovingly takes upon himself our humanity and makes it his own, “espousing” it forever.

The “great joy” proclaimed tonight to the shepherds is indeed “for all the people.” We too, with all our weaknesses and failures, are among those shepherds, who were certainly not saints. And just as God called the shepherds, so too he calls us, for he loves us. In the dark night of life, he says to us as he did to them, “Be not afraid!” (Lk 2:10). Take courage, do not lose confidence, do not lose hope, do not think that to love is a waste of time! Tonight love has conquered fear, new hope has arrived, God’s kindly light has overcome the darkness of human arrogance. Mankind, God loves you; for your sake he became man. You are no longer alone!

Dear brothers and sisters, what are we to do with this grace? Only one thing: accept the gift. Before we go out to seek God, let us allow ourselves to be sought by him. He always seeks us first. Let us not begin with our own abilities but with his grace, for he, Jesus, is the Saviour. Let us contemplate the Child and let ourselves be caught up in his tender love. Then we have no further excuse for not letting ourselves be loved by him. Whatever goes wrong in our lives, whatever doesn’t work in the Church, whatever problems there are in the world, will no longer serve as an excuse. It will become secondary, for faced with Jesus’ extravagant love, a love of utter meekness and closeness, we have no excuse. At Christmas, the question is this: “Do I allow myself to be loved by God? Do I abandon myself to his love that comes to save me?”

So great a gift deserves immense gratitude. To accept this grace means being ready to give thanks in return. Often we live our lives with such little gratitude. Today is the right day to draw near to the tabernacle, the crèche, the manger, and to say thank you. Let us receive the gift that is Jesus, in order then to become gift like Jesus. To become gift is to give meaning to life. And it is the best way to change the world: we change, the Church changes, history changes, once we stop trying to change others but try to change ourselves and to make of our life a gift.

Jesus shows this to us tonight. He did not change history by pressuring anyone or by a flood of words, but by the gift of his life. He did not wait until we were good before he loved us, but gave himself freely to us. May we not wait for our neighbours to be good before we do good to them, for the Church to be perfect before we love her, for others to respect us before we serve them. Let us begin with ourselves. This is what it means freely to accept the gift of grace. And holiness is nothing other than preserving this freedom.

A charming legend relates that at the birth of Jesus the shepherds hurried to the stable with different gifts. Each brought what he had; some brought the fruits of their labour, others some precious item. But as they were all presenting their gifts, there was one shepherd who had nothing to give. He was extremely poor; he had no gift to present. As the others were competing to offer their gifts, he stood apart, embarrassed. At a certain point, Saint Joseph and Our Lady found it hard to receive all those gifts, especially Mary, who had to hold the baby. Seeing that shepherd with empty hands, she asked him to draw near. And she put the baby Jesus in his arms. That shepherd, in accepting him, became aware of having received what he did not deserve, of holding in his arms the greatest gift of all time. He looked at his hands, those hands that seemed to him always empty; they had become the cradle of God. He felt himself loved and, overcoming his embarrassment, began to show Jesus to the others, for he could not keep for himself the gift of gifts.

Dear brother, dear sister, if your hands seem empty, if you think your heart is poor in love, this night is for you. The grace of God has appeared, to shine forth in your life. Accept it and the light of Christmas will shine forth in you.

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

Pope Francis' General Audience last week was a beautiful reflection on the simplicity and silence of preparing for Jesus' coming.

One of the easiest ways of preparing is setting up a nativity scene in our homes, churches, and public spaces, a tradition which began with Saint Francis of Assisi.  You literally prepare a space for the birth to happen, it provides a regular reminder of why we are here at all, and why it matters.  It isn't a political statement, or some kind of religious show.  It is, rather, a living Gospel that reminds us of God's love:  God comes to us, Pope Francis says, "in order to share our daily lives, hopes and concerns."

I have a friend who puts one of those old-fashioned light-up Jesus, Mary and Joseph sets in his yard and a realtor spoke with him one year about not putting it out because she thought the neighbor's house might not sell if they thought a religious fanatic lived next door.  I asked him how that affected him, and he said, "Well, I guess, I am a fan.  I'm not a fan of snowmen or elves, so I don't put that in front of my house."  If we don't speak about it, then we have not shared the good news that many people simply have not heard.

Yes, God comes to us to share our lives, but also to remind us that he gave us this life, and that he sustains it.  The Son of God became utterly dependent upon us, the Creator on his creatures, to show us how completely dependent we are on him.  And there is a marvelous connection here with the historical fact:  He comes to Bethlehem, and is laid in a manger.

The name Bethlehem, in Hebrew, literally means "House of Bread."  You see the word "Bethel" often, which means House (beth) of El(ohim), or God.  The living bread (lehem) come down from heaven... being found in a manger, a place where his creatures are fed.

The creche in our homes, then calls forth the image of the center of our homes, our dining room and kitchen tables, where we are fed and also are gathered together as a family.  Jesus is the center of our family life, and needs to be called to mind constantly throughout the daily activities of our family.  The creche serves as a reminder for us to pause in the middle of our crazy lives and contemplate what is truly important in life.  "Everything in the nativity scene speaks of the harmony and peace that only Christ the Savior can bring to our lives and our world.  As we gaze upon the lowly scene of Jesus' birth, let us invite him into our hearts, so that each new day can bring spiritual rebirth and preserve us in the joy of Christmas."

I started pulling out Christmas decorations this past week and realized that I already had three small nativity scenes in my office and three in my room at the rectory.  I had not forgotten to put them away, but had let that image be refreshed in my mind throughout the year.  I have been better for it.  (I'm not a fanatic, but I am a fan.)  It is a good thing to be reminded of love as much as possible when it is, sadly, sometimes rare in our world.

For many years in my after-Christmas homilies and articles I have suggested that, when you start to take down the decorations (Christmas season ends on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Sunday, January 12, by the way) to consider not putting all of them away, but rather to leave one out, to remind you to let the kindness and goodwill of Christmas leak out into the rest of the year.  Actively call to mind the love we celebrate on this beautiful and unlikely holiday, when the impossible is possible and hope is born again.  

We are still in the active feast of Christmas, the octave of days following Christmas Day when all eight days are Christmas Day.  There is still plenty of time to prepare that space for the birth to happen.  We are nourished, of course, by bread and all the wonderful foods with which we celebrate the holidays:  Might we also hunger for that living bread that comes down from heaven, and having eaten, never need to fear death.
To all who have made our celebrations so moving and beautiful at Saint Bernadette, our staff and volunteers, I wish every gratitude and blessing.  And, as doors open to the new year both with promise and uncertainty, let us find our hope in the witness of a loving God who has gone to great lengths to touch our lives.

Happy new year, and God bless you.