Christmas Day Homily - God is with us

My maternal grandfather was a storyteller. As a child, on Summer days on our porch he would make up stories that I loved. I also loved hearing about his family which he was a bit more reticent to share. One story was of a youngers' sisters wedding that lasted 3 days! This was amazing given how poor my great-grandparents were, as simple coal mining immigrants. Then sadly, after about 10 years of marriage and around six kids, her husband died. So here she was at 28 years old, widowed with kids. She herself would die tragically a few years later leaving those kids orphaned.  Or the other story of how a man on the town came to my great-grandfather and declared that he wanted to marry a Bailey girl. So my great grandfather apparently told the oldest unwed she was it. That daughter said “no", because this man was too short; but her sister Mary agreed; and my Aunt Mary and Uncle George were married almost 60 years with 8 children. If they were 5' 3, that would have been amazing.

Stories bond us. They teach us; especially how miraculous life is and how tenuous life can be.

In a class on Existential Literature in college we were taught an adage: “Humanity cries out to the Universe for meaning; and the Universe remains silent.” When I attended Graduate School for Geology, a prof told us “The Earth is telling a story, geology helps to interpret that story.”  Two different approaches to our understanding of the world.

God is not silent, despite the claims of some. God reveals the story of a Universe full of meaning, of wonder on an infinite scale and on a personal level. God created all with harmony, with connection, and that includes us; you, me and all of humanity. We all have meaning, we all have purpose, we are all relevant to God's great plan or will, We are invited to participate fully in this great story of the Universe, of this world, of this life.  So much so, that God directly enters into the story of humanity in a very personal way to empower us, to induce us to live life to the full.
This is that we celebrate at Christmas, God's story and our story are one.

That story becomes lived out in the daily experiences of life! As Jesus reveals, the Story of the Universe becomes real in our daily moments of kindness, compassion, generosity, patience; in those moments when we give of ourselves for the good of another. Jesus teaches how to interpret our lives and the lives of others, so as to see God at work; so that we can hear the story being told.

How many times will it be played out in these few days as parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles indulge kids; even the ones hyped up on sugar! It will be those hugs and winks of husbands and wives as they watch their kids' faces! Or the wonder of that perfect given.

The Story of God and us will be lived through the year when after a fight, we forgive each other and make up. It will be when we welcome new friends into our parish, our homes; It will also be when we say goodbye to those we will lose. It will be in the celebrations of new life born.

The thing is no matter how small these stories are they impact us and they impact others; they are full of meaning. They are full of Love and Hope; if we but become aware of them. If we pay attention and learn how to interpret them.

This was what Jesus did.

He drew attention to God with us, God ever present in the forgiving, the healing, the welcoming. the selflessness of our choices.

We do not have to be Extra-ordinary according to this world so as to be Relevant, to have dignity, to have our place in this world.  The Christian message, the Christmas message is that we all are important, all of our stories matter.  

This is our faith! This is our story And I hope it amazes us!

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