Christmas
Is 62:11-12; Titus 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light! After the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to ask her to become the Mother of God, at the end of the passage we hear the words: “The Angel departed from her.” The Angel left her – left her in the dark as it were — with a great responsibility – alone, seemingly. Can you imagine how alone this 16-year-old woman, Mary, might have felt, bearing this “news,” of the life within her, after the Angel “departed!” The angel appeared to Joseph, too, and then ‘departed.’ The angels “went away” from the shepherds, too. For you and me, it seems at times that we bear our burdens, alone, in the dark, in the darkness of our personal shadow sides and of our world.
Yet Mary said yes to light announced by the angel. So did Joseph. So did the shepherds – all little people, like us. They set out in seeming darkness, the way we do. But they were not alone. The angel reappeared when needed to guide. We hear, too, in the Christmas narrative of shepherds and magi following the star, a light, to be sure.
These visitations by angels and guiding by starlight happen to us as well. We may not recognize them at first or know what they mean. Again, Mary is the model for us. Recall, she “reflected on them in her heart”, on what the angels proclaimed and on how the shepherds offered homage. She was discerning spirits, we say today.
Unusual events in the spiritual realm can mystify us. The Christmas story is mysterious. Mary and Joseph, not knowing where the journey would take them are the model of our lives, of our salvation history, as well. The angel and the star light our paths, too. We must pay attention, listen and obey.
All Advent I was speaking of these darkest days of the year. But the point of Christmas is that the darkness is not all. The dark does not overtake the light. The light grows brighter. The days grow longer. The solstice happens in our spiritual lives as well! Christ the Light saves us from our darkness, our weaknesses, our sins. Christmas is linked to Easter. The Christmas tree transforms into the Cross. Christ died on the tree so we will never die.
Mary was not alone, nor was Joseph. We are not alone. Emmanuel, God-is-with-us. We discover this if we ponder the angelic presences in our lives. Think, for example, of someone who was kind to you. Savor the memory.
Angels and their messages come to us in different ways, under different appearances, but they all bring one thing: peace and encouragement: to go forward —- even amidst difficulties, setbacks, and disappointments. Joseph and Mary’s path forward was difficult –- as we will hear again in the days ahead — but they knew God was with them.
Angels guide us to the Light, Christ. Christ is with us! Christ is born in us when we take Holy Communion. Mary gave him flesh. So do we. We bear Him to the world. We take the Light of Christ, born for us today, to the world.