Bishop Michael celebrates Mass of the Nativity at the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, Galway and Cathedral of St Brendan, Loughrea
“He had come to live among us. To teach us the value of love and the ways of kindness.” – Bishop Michael
For weeks now, Christians throughout the world have been preparing for this night. Since early November, lights and tinsel have been gradually making their annual reappearance. Cards have been written, gifts bought and those all-important letters to Santa Claus carefully composed. In recent days we have all braved the Galway traffic and queued trolly to trolly in supermarkets. At one level, I find myself thinking – it’s mad, it’s all mad! On another level, that famous 1960’s Christmas classic comes to mind – “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Tonight, after the Christmas rush, there is calm in the air. The mood is changing. Things are slowing down. People begin to reach out to each other. Families flung apart by distance and distraction gather to spend time together. The world seems to pause, for a fleeting moment, to savor the experience.
As a people of faith, we recall and retell the centuries-old story that stands as the reason for it all. At Masses, from Norway to Nigeria from Boston to Brisbane, the main characters take center stage. They were people like you and I, ordinary men and women, who had their own cares, their own concerns on that first Christmas night. Mary, a young girl in her late teens perhaps. Pregnant unexpectedly, she journeyed those eighty miles or so from Nazareth to Bethlehem to take part in the Census. There is Joseph, her husband, accompanying her. The innkeeper who offers them accommodation in an outhouse. Although the Gospel accounts package it beautifully, mothers and fathers here will know that childbirth brings with it its struggles. A child is born -a boy. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, he is laid in the comfort of the livestock’s manger. Nearby, his identity is mysteriously made known to Shepherds. I cannot explain the “how” of it all, but they experienced something profoundly spiritual that night. To them it is announced that the long-awaited intervention of God in human history is at hand. The Messiah has been born. Born at a time and in a place they did not expect. They are invited to go and share the joy of that night. Their lives are to be forever changed and changed for the better because of what has happened.
Two thousand and twenty-five years later, tonight in the lull of Christmas, we and our whole world are invited, like the shepherds, to journey in our minds and hearts to Bethlehem. We are invited to experience the pure joy of that night and in the process to change and to be changed for the better. For Christians believe that that in and through that Child, in and through that unexpected birth, God himself – the creator of the universe had definitively entered our world. He had come to live among us. To teach us the value of love and the ways of kindness.
Perhaps this Christmas, more than many other Christmases, we need, not only to hear, but to really heed that message. Our world is struggling to love. Struggling to be kind. During the year we have seen war continue to rage in the land of Jesus’ own birth. Following the October 2023 attacks on Israel, we have seen the slaughter of so many innocent people in Gaza. World super-powers vie for influence as the war in Ukraine and Russia continues to rage in Europe. In many other corners of our world violence and oppression are commonplace. Poverty and hunger abound, forcing refugees and migrants to flee, even to our own shores, in the hope of a better life. Here, at home, many will struggle this Christmas to make ends meet, some do not have a place to lay their head. In our own lives, we have our troubles too – sickness, the loss of a loved one, family tensions, dark thoughts, deep hurts that are hard to heal, grudges that we can’t seem to let go of. Nowadays, the way we think, speak and act seems to have become agitated, hard, heartless. Not only the value of love but the ways of kindness seem to be in short supply.
Recently, I was delighted to see that “Woodies” have re-run their 2020 Christmas advertisement. I was also delighted that a recent poll confirmed that, after five years, it remains Ireland’s favourite Christmas advertisement. It features “Mrs Higgins” an elderly lady with her little dog and a badly broken gate. Nearby, hoodie clad young lads congregate as if up to no good. As the advertisement concludes, Mrs Higgins returns from the shops to find her gate has a new hinge. The final frame moves to capture the smiling face of one of the young lads with a screwdriver. Under his breath he says, “Happy Christmas Mrs Higgins”. I don’t know about you, but this little act of unexpected kindness leaves me with a lump in my throat. It shows the power of what we recall and retell each Christmas to bring out the best in every one of us -to change us for the better. It reminds me of that saying made famous some years ago by the late BBC presenter Caroline Flack: “In a world where you can be anything, be kind!”.
Tonight, we gather, all the busy buying and prepping over, in the lull of this Christmas night. We hear once again the Christmas story. We celebrate God’s sharing our human lot and contemplate his call to the transforming practice of practical love and kindness. At this most wonderful time of the year, let us open our minds and hearts to the Christ-child. Let us change and be changed by his message. This year, let our celebration of Christmas leave us and our world, that little bit more loving, that little bit more kind. “Happy Christmas Mrs Higgins” Amen