During a pair of Christmas-season homilies, Archbishop William E. Lori preached a message of hope during these often-tumultuous times at Baltimore’s Cathedral of Mary our Queen in Homeland.
On Christmas Day, Archbishop Lori began his homily by recalling his trip to the Holy Land, where he accompanied leadership from the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association to the West Bank and Gaza.
He said the experience of a visit to the Holy Family Children’s Home in Bethlehem and being able to hold a baby cared for by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul reminded him of how precious the Child in the manger is. He said he also drew inspiration with the Scripture “coming alive” after celebrating Mass at St. Jerome’s Cave in the Bethlehem.
“(A)s I offered Mass at the place of the Nativity, I was overwhelmed by the truth and reality of the liturgy by which past events become present so that we can share in them,” he said in his Christmas Day homily in Baltimore. “The birth of Jesus took place 2,000 years ago; it happened only once. Yet it is still taking place whenever we celebrate Christ’s Incarnation in the sacred mysteries that the church sets forth for us. That is why the church insists, “Today, Christ is born!” Our faith cannot be reduced to sentimentality or nostalgia. It thrives on living contact with Christ and everything he did to save us. It is no different tonight (today). The Lord is born anew in mystery so that we too can be born anew.”
Archbishop Lori said all can experience the same Christmas inspiration:
“As the Word becomes flesh in us, it is not likely that shepherds will appear, or that we will hear the song of the angels, or even that the night sky will be ablaze with stars,” he said. “Such is reserved for the One who is Lord of lords and King of kings. What we do hope for is that, like the shepherds, we will be amazed; like the angels, we will worship in spirit and truth; like the stars, we will shine with the radiance of Christ; and like Mary, we will carefully preserve this great mystery in our hearts.
“Returning, if not physically but mystically, to the place where Christ was born, let us pray for the generosity of spirit to extend the light and love of Christ to those who suffer and are sore oppressed. May he who was born in a cave because there was no room in the inn, help us give shelter to those who have no where to lay their head. May he who was laid in a manger used for feeding animals, help us to give food to the hungry. May he who was held in the arms of his Mother Mary help us to embrace him in those who go through life unloved … and so we pray:
“… rekindle our hope, Lord. … Fill us with ecstatic wonder, … assure us of the triumph of love over hatred, of life over death. … In the luminous silence of your Nativity … continue to speak to us, Emmanuel. And we are ready to listen to you” (Pope St. John Paul II).
For the feast of the Holy Family, Dec. 28, he said worshipers should draw inspiration from the Holy Family to “keep hope alive.”
“(T)he Holy Family teaches us that hope should be at the heart of every family,” Archbishop Lori said in his Holy Family homily. “But let us be clear what hope is not and what it is: Hope is not mere optimism nor is it wishful thinking. Hope is trust in God’s providence in the present circumstances of our lives. It is an abiding trust that, as we journey through life, God is purifying us, making us ready, for the Kingdom of Heaven, where the deepest longings of our hearts finally will be satisfied. We hope to attain such happiness, not because of our unaided efforts, but because God, in his mercy, has sent his only Son into the world to suffer, to die, and to rise from the dead to save us from our sins. If we keep in mind what hope truly is, I think we will see how the Holy Family exemplifies the enduring and authentic hope that is essential to the Christian vocation of marriage and family life.”
He said the Holy Family’s hardships are a model on which to lean during tough times.
“Times have changed and progress has eliminated many of life’s hardships,” he said. “But for all our progress, we have not eliminated the problems and challenges every family faces, sooner or later. The course of my parents’ lives was drastically changed when they discovered that my older brother was intellectually and emotionally disabled. They didn’t expect this and at first didn’t fully grasp the sacrifices that they would have to make as parents. Yet, through it all, mom and dad continued to trust and hope in God, to trust that the cross they were bearing was for a purpose. They trusted that God was working out their salvation in ways they would not have chosen and did not fully understand.”
He continued: “Trusting in God’s providence in present circumstances blossoms into full-blown hope when it looks to our eternal destiny – to the inexpressible joy of seeing God face-to-face with all the angels and saints. The Holy Family exemplifies this supernatural outlook. Mary and Joseph hoped and trusted in God and in his promises. Mary had a sinless heart, totally open to God, and Joseph was a genuinely holy and virtuous man. Little by little, they came to understand that God chose them to play a unique role in the fulfillment of his promises; they were chosen to create a loving home where the Savior of the world would come of age.”
Read Archbishop Lori’s Christmas full homily here
Read Archbishop Lori’s Holy Family full homily here
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