Fr. Jacobi's Homily Message

We dwell in a land of gloom. We walk in darkness. Fear shrouds our days. Not just any kind of fear, but a fear giving birth to a deep-rooted anxiety clouding our vision. We are fear-filled and thus anxious about many things.

There is an unspoken fear about the next terrorist attack on our soil, which gives rise to an anxiety about when and where and how will it come. Our terror about terrorism casts a long shadow, affecting how we see other people, so we become fearful of those who cross our borders from other lands. Then there is the war in Iraq, which has cast a pall over our land. Adding to the deepening gloom this year are anxieties over things which we cannot control, such as the weather. We Okies know about the destructive power of tornadoes, but hurricanes Rita and Katrina have destroyed more homes and lives than a century of tornadoes.

Enveloped by this growing gloom, some parents wrestle with the wisdom of bringing a child into this world.

As a people, we walk in darkness, but each of us individually also struggle to emerge from our own particular gloom casting a pall over our heart. Sorrows and trials, suffering and struggle mark each of our lives. We wonder when the darkness will end. We long for the light of a new day.

The Light of Christ shines in our darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Christ, the Light of the world, shines in our darkness, and the darkness is changed into a new day.

Heaven and earth rejoice as radiant rays of abundant joy scatter the gloom. The love of God in Christ for humankind is brighter than the deepest darkness.

In the Word made Flesh, God becomes one with us, so we might become one with God. In the Eternal Word of God’s love dwelling among us in Christ Jesus, God now belongs to us, so we might belong to God. Yes, God scatters the darkness with the light of his love in Christ so we might become brothers and sisters to one another.

Yes, sorrow flees and mourning turns away as we come face to face with the Son of God and see shining forth from his face God’s glorious desire for us. God longs to be with us, and longs for us to be with him. Thus, God chooses, out of love, to become a human being, with all the uncertainties, vulnerabilities and struggles that come with being human. Hopelessly in love with us, God places God’s very self in our hands. Helplessly in love with us, God places God’s self in the hands of our troubled world.

This is the source of our Christmas joy. This is the heart of our wonder. In the child born of Mary, God abandons himself joyfully into our care. The Eternal Son of God takes a body to die and the darkness of death flees away. The Holy One is born in the darkness of a sinful world, the better to pardon us with the merciful light of His love. The almighty God is born weak as a child, so we might be strong in our journey from darkness into the light of God’s kingdom.

The light of Christ shines in our darkness, and no darkness can overcome it. The shadows of gloom lift as the Light of the World comes to set us free from our fears and fill us with His peace.

God’s hunger for human companions and our hunger for God meet in Christ. In Christ, God hungers for human companionship. In Christ, our hunger for God is satisfied.

At the heart of every Eucharist is the glorious mystery of the Incarnation. Every time we celebrate the Mass we rejoice in a God who hungers for us and who feeds our hunger for God in Christ.

For the babe laid in a manger, which is a food trough for animals, is the Bread of Life. He gives himself to us as food for the journey of faith. As the wood of the manger later becomes the wood of the cross, the babe now Man will say by the complete gift of his life, given in love, “Take and eat, this is my body, given up for you.” The Man-Child of God whose death on the cross we celebrate at every Mass, says, “Take and drink, this is my blood poured out for you.” The one who comes into the world in a rush of blood and water leaves the world in the same way.

Only Jesus Christ can quench our thirst for God. Only he can feed the aching hunger in the belly of our soul. Too often we look elsewhere to satisfy our hunger and thirst for the divine. We consume “things” and end up being consumed. We hope that this “thing” or that “thing” will satisfy our hunger for the divine. But the things we buy and consume have eyes but do not see, ears that do not hear, hands that do not touch. We become more like these things the more we try to make them into what they can never be---God for us.

Thus, instead of sending another prophet to speak the word of God to us and draw us back home to God, the Heavenly Father instead sends his Only Son, who is the living word of God. The Word made Flesh dwells among us at this holy feast of God’s love. We are called to the banquet of life by the Eternal Word of God, to share in His glory. To eat and drink of Christ, so God’s hunger for human friendship can be filled, and our thirst for God can be quenched.

Today we celebrate our birth into a new life and a new world. For Christ the Lord is not only born for us as the Light of the World, but also born in us this holy day.

God the Father is making all things new in and through His Son. So we might be “born again” and plunge ever deeper into our dignity as children of God.

When we can look on the face of any woman or man and see that she is our sister and he is our brother then night has ended and a new day has dawned.