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Christmas,
Cycle C
December
25, 2015
St. Margaret,
Our Lady of Grace
Transformation from an
Old Christmas Carol
By (Rev. Msgr.)
Nicholas P. Amato
I Heard the
Bells
One hundred and fifty-two years ago, on
Christmas of 1863, our nation was deeply divided by the Civil War.
On that Christmas, the American poet Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow was feeling very down.
He was worried about our country and about his son who had been wounded
in battle.
With those feelings, Longfellow scribbled
these words: “In despair I bowed my head;
`There is no peace on earth,’ I said. ‘For
hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to all.’”
Then, just as he had written these words,
Longfellow hears the sound of bells from a nearby church. For him, the peeling of bells awakened and
stirred hope.
In a matter of minutes Longfellow rewrote his
words: “Then peeled the bells more loud
and deep: ‘God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The wrong shall fail, The right prevail, With peace on earth, good will
to all.’”
As you can guess, Longfellow’s words became
our popular Christmas carol, I Heard the
Bells on Christmas Day.
I Heard the
Word
Those bells reminded Longfellow of God and helped
him shift in his mind to the reality of what Christmas is all about.
They awakened and stirred his faith and
hope. They helped him to see the
positive possibilities for human life that Christmas proclaims.
(Tonight) (Today), the Scripture readings – like
the bells – awaken and stir our faith and hope in the possibilities that the
birth of Jesus brings us.
A Possibility: Reverence for Human
Life
For
starters, (tonight’s) (today’s) Gospel proclaims that God has taken on our
humanity in the very birth of Jesus.
God now
works and is present in and through our humanity (gesturing). In this way,
God makes it clear just how sacred human life is.
And so,
Christmas lifts up the possibility of living with reverence for the life and espousing
the dignity of each person. This is especially
important for our day.
For
example, Christmas lifts up the thoughtful care of our aging parents or other elderly
when they are less able to take care of themselves. It lifts up a sensitivity for the life of the
unborn and for all children who need a secure environment for growing.
And Christmas
lifts up a desire to alleviate the suffering of loved ones, a troubled teenager
in our family or people whom we do not even know…
The
refugees from Syria or (the 270 persons who are homeless here in Harford County
every night this winter) (the hundreds that fill the 25 homeless shelters every
night here in Baltimore County.)
The
Proclamation of Christmas lifts up this possibility of living with reverence
for human life.
A
Possibility: Respect for Differences
Second, (tonight’s) (today’s) Gospel speaks of
shepherds coming to the manger in Bethlehem.
Then, a few verses after this passage, we hear
that three Wise Men from the East also come to pay homage to the newborn
Savior. In this way, Jesus draws to
himself the poor, uneducated shepherds and the wealthy, educated Wise Men.
And so, Christmas lifts up the possibility of
living with a respect for differences.
This again is so important for us today.
For example, the Christmas proclamation urges
us to assume that members of our family are of good will, even when their
political opinions are different. It
calls us to accept differences in religion, in race, in culture.
In this year especially, Christmas may call us
to avoid stereotyping and work at understanding the Muslim religion.
Yes, Christmas’ proclamation lifts up this
possibility of living with respect for differences.
Conclusion
And so, (tonight) (today), Christmas of 2015,
may we allow the bells of Christmas and our Christmas Gospel to awaken and stir
up our faith and hope.
Let them awaken us to the positive
possibilities that the birth of Jesus proclaims.
May Longfellow’s shift that came in the
hearing of Christmas bells be our shift in the Gospel narrative…
“God is
not dead; nor doth he sleep! The wrong
shall fail, The right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to all.”
A blessed Christmas to you and your loved
ones!
