light in the longest night: christmas eve 2017

Tonight has been regarded in ancient times as the longest night in the northern hemisphere.  It is the darkest night of the year.  The eve of Christmas is called the winter solstice. Although the church never discounts the possibility that Christ was born on December 25, St. Augustine calls this celebration of the birth of the Lord as a commemoration in contrast to the celebration of Easter which he called an anniversary.  In Christmas it is enough that we remember the birth of the Lord and recall the mystery of the incarnation, but in Easter there is a preoccupation as to the exact date of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

December 25 however, was chosen as the day to commemorate the birth of the Lord not because it is the exact day of the Lord’s birth but because of its symbolism.  December 24 may be the longest and darkest night but beginning December 25 the day starts to become longer and the night becomes shorter.  This is a poetry depicted by celestial bodies and used to figuratively explain our first reading which says, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.

And so, slowly, slowly day by day, the light of day becomes longer beginning December 25 until it reaches March 21, when daylight begins to be longer than night. And from then on darkness becomes ever shorter and light becomes longer.  And coupled with the full moon of Easter, even the shorter nights will be suffused with the light of the moon.  Thus, in Easter, there is no time when the earth has no light.  St. Ambrose would use the movements of the celestial bodies to tell his congregation that just like in Easter when there is not a time when the earth has no light, so also there should be no part of our lives that is covered with darkness.

But that’s going ahead of the season.  We are still in December 24 in the darkest night of the year, awaiting the birth of the light that will slowly but surely banish the darkness of our lives.  December 25 is marked as the start.

Today in this longest and darkest night of the year we read Psalm 96 in our responsorial psalm.  This psalm is called an enthronement song or a royal psalm.  This is sung for the king, as the king comes and ascends his throne. 

Sing to the Lord a new song, it says.  We sing a new song because with the enthronement of the king we are starting a new era, we are beginning something new. 

So how does God assume his kingship, how does a baby born in a manger become king of the world and the nations?  The psalm says when everything in the world - the heavens, the seas, the plains, the trees of the forest, the nations and people claim and recognize God’s sovereignty over them.  It is not as if God will raise an army who will go about and threaten those who oppose him, and imprison those who do not do God’s commands, and kill those who displease him – threatening and killing people is not how God rules.  God reigns when each person recognizes his rule over him or her.  When each of us live up to be the persons we were meant to be.  Doing one good deed at a time, banding together to become a force of good in our family, in our neighborhood, and in society.

And we can always start with ourselves, and we can always start with something, something small, probably insignificant to most but meaningful to us.  Christmas is not a ready-made peace on earth that dropped from the sky in a box ready for our picking, or a joy to the world handed down to us like a microwave-ready meal. No. Christmas is a start of something new and we always start from the darkest night, small, unrecognizable, unknown and probably insignificant to most.  But it is a start.

I do not know if this makes sense to you but Christmas eve 7 years ago I was alone in the seminary and I was praying in our prayer room.  As I was looking at the manger where the child Jesus was peacefully reclining, a prayer came to mind, “Lord you know you have done so many good things for me, what do you want me to give to you this Christmas, on your birthday?”  And a voice whispered something in my mind. He answered, my gash he answered.  I thought the Lord will ask me something like, you know big and significant, like when he asked St. Francis rebuild this church or St. Dominic when he was asked to propagate the rosary to the people.  But the tiny voice in my head answered, stop smoking, quit smoking.  Hay, ngaa namangkot pa ko man?  That is what I have been telling people, if you ask the Lord be ready, be open, be brave.  If you are not ready, don’t ask.  That is why real prayer is dangerous because you do not know what God will be asking from you.

But this is what I want to say - Christmas is a start of God’s reign in you, in your family, in all of us.  It doesn’t have to be big.  It can be a phone call or text message, it can be a hug, or it can be like that Christmas card I saw on facebook telling everyone to start doing less - less pride, less anger, less gossip, less bitterness, less complaining, less selfishness.  It is a start.  A people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.  It’s a start.

And so I end. A mother and her little girl were praying before a belen.  And the little girl tugged her mother asking, “Mommy why is Jesus not growing up, he celebrated his birthday last year, but he is still the same size this year.”  Perhaps it is us who are not growing up.  Perhaps we go through the yearly ritual of Christmas without starting something concrete to allow Jesus to finally reign over us.