Mass in the morning
Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Zechariah, John’s father filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying:
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David.
Through his prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hand of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
– End of Luke 1
On this fine, final day before the Day, some of us will go to 7 AM mass, and many more to another Christmas Eve service at a more civilized time, and we will sing the songs as Zechariah did, full of hope and future glory. The words will echo in the church, like a bell ringing even louder in the silence between its peals. And our hearts have every right to open, because this is the dawn on high. The light of Jesus breaks upon us.
The holy family is moving on, away from the attentions of Elizabeth and Zechariah and the months of Mary’s preparation. These barely-grown-up Hebrew children who bear God’s child turn down the path to Bethlehem, being from the house of David. Along with their relatives, they must travel days to sign their names in the presence of a Roman accountant. They must render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.
And to God, what is God’s, because it is in the palm of God where they read their heritage and their future. Zechariah’s words sing to them with every footstep. God “sets them free from the hand of their enemies, free to worship the LORD without fear, free to be holy and righteous in God’s sight all the days of their lives.”
Can this be always, always true? Are we too indeed set free?
I know I feel darkness in my dwelling place. I sense the shadow of death, never far from me. I am afraid. But Zechariah’s words challenge these close illusions.
The breath of this priest’s sudden words strengthens my soul.
My fears and schemes and desperate grasping hands, all these phantoms fade in the tenderness of God’s promises. With a whisper, with a gentle touch, my father guides my feet onto the path of peace.
My controlling spirit takes a step back today. My friend speaks of choosing happiness rather than getting her own way, even when her own way matters. She just needs a moment.
I hear her, I learn from her, I can make that choice myself. The armor of the Lord is never designed to protect my ego, but my spirit.
On this day we can wait together beneath the tent first of sun, then stars. Outside the little town of Bethlehem, we sit together on the cold ground, that ancient dust from which we came, and share our own sweet stories of God’s compassion, the gift that rests on all of us, in time and time, forever more.
Above our deep and dreamless sleep, your silent stars go by. But in our dark streets, shining, your everlasting light, our hopes and dreams, of all the years, are met in thee … tonight.
* * *
And on a somewhat different note, you might like to watch 4 or so minutes of the best Christmas pageant ever (to steal a phrase), from Southland Christian Church in Kentucky:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suowe2czxcA
https://www.davesandel.net/category/advent-and-christmas-devotions-2019/
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archive.php?year=2019
