Father Cummings Homilies
Excerpts


Christmas

Christmas is certainly the best-loved of all holidays in the Western world - by the devout, the lukewarm, even by non-believers. By absolutely everyone. There's a fascination, a nostalgia, about this holiday which indicates that there is a very deep need in the human heart that finds some satisfaction in all the images and traditions, gatherings and decorations. We flock willingly to the celebration of Christmas, like shepherds and wise men, to the stable in the cave outside Bethlehem, - to find an oasis in a world which so often seems to be barely holding together. Here for a time, peace reigns; angels and humans sing together, rich and poor kneel side by side, even the donkey and the cow watch with reverent attention. All are brought into one and there is peace on earth - a foreshadowing of the Kingdom to come. How novel is this atmosphere; how unlike the rest of the year are the days filled with Christmas spirit.

Life is a lonely journey. No matter how many friends we may have, no matter how much sympathy and compassion they may show, we are - on a certain level - inevitably alone on the pilgrimage of life, especially at its most difficult moments of pain and death. Our loneliness and the ultimate threat of eternal loneliness, cries out for a Savior. This accounts for the universal appeal of Christmas: the deepest longings of our hearts for peace and unity are satisfied by, as they can only be satisfied by - Emmanuel. God with us. As of the first Christmas, we are alone no longer. God says to man in general and every man in particular: I am by your side, I love you - I've sought you out, and come to find you wandering in the dark valleys of egotism and selfishness and I will reunite you to me and so also to the rest of creation. Eventually, when the Savior's work is done, all those who did not cling to their ego, their loneliness, will be united to God and neighbor in a manner which defies imagining, which we call Heaven. God has come to dwell with us so that we might dwell with Him forever.

As we contemplate these truths of faith, we must resolve not to let them pass in one ear and out the other. We must not leave the stable, forgetting what we have seen: proof that God really does love us. It's because God so loved the world that He gave us His only son. And not just the world, but each person in it. This is, in a way, the most essential and difficult to accept tenet of our faith: God loves even me. We may feel loveable, because we love ourselves, but it is a rare person - we call them saints - who really knows, and practically perceives to even a minimal degree, God's infinite love for him. We know that Christ died for all, but do we really believe that He died for me? Just for me? If we did, we'd be constantly brimming with joy. That is why we must not pass by the manger too quickly. We must stop and see how low God has stooped, how poor and simple He became. This is so that He can approach us - the lonely ones, the wretched, the outcast - without scaring us off. Sinners sin because they cannot accept that God really wants to be with them and have an intimate friendship with them. If they did, they would want to stay beautiful for this great friend. Every one who thus hopes in Him purifies Himself as He is pure. (I Jn. 3.3)

How do we grow in friendship with Christ, in purity, with the help of the Church? There are three essential steps. First, we must stop to meditate at least once a day - not superficial prayers, but a dialogue of love, quality time, begging that this knowledge of God's love for me will sink in, and that I will respond to it. Second, we must go to Mass and Communion (if our souls are ready) at least once a week. Third, we must go to the sacrament of reconciliation at least once a month. That's easy to remember: daily prayer, weekly Mass, monthly confession - as a minimum. That is the way to have your friendship with God in Christ Jesus take off. Even God can't maintain a one-sided relationship. We must do that minimum part. Then our peace of heart and harmony with others at home and work will grow. With all mankind and creation too. Then, gradually, the joy of Christmas will begin to illumine every day, and we will say: thanks to you, Lord, I'll never be lonely again.