Courtney McGrailFr Liam Devine offers ideas for preparing a Christmas homily
Fr Liam Devine
It is worth making an effort to do something special with the Christmas homily. The congregation at the Midnight Mass is likely to be the biggest of the year. Many of those who are present may not be seen again until this time next year. The challenge is to make the message of Christmas relevant to the “for one night only” brigade on Christmas night.
I must admit that I am at a loss to know what is the best approach. I would not be so presumptuous as to tell other priests what to say in their homilies.
I am only thinking out loud about the ways I might approach it myself. One thing is certain; the homily preparation demands a lot of prayer, reflection and familiarity with the Christmas scriptures. No matter how often we hear the Christmas story, there is always something new to be taken from it.
I would suggest that we would need to spell out for people what exactly the Good News of Christmas is.
For months the commercial world has been preparing for Christmas. There is no doubt there will be no shortage of celebration. Money will be spent lavishly on presents, and sadly millions will be spent on alcohol. But will the whole message of Christmas go over their heads or will they see what we see as Good News?
Saviour
I always like to emphasise that Jesus first and foremost came into our world as a saviour, a redeemer. He entered our world because of sin and brokenness. He came with a message of salvation for each o ne of us. The question is, do many people today see the need for a saviour in their lives?
We are trying to preach salvation to those who don’t think they need it.
That attitude can probably be attributed to the fact that the world seems to have lost its sense of sin.
If they don’t feel the need for a saviour, then they won’t welcome the birth of Jesus as good news. After all, if you don’t feel sick, then you won’t feel the need for a doctor.
Jesus reached out to the margins and beyond. I always like to point out that the first people to be made aware of the birth of Jesus were the shepherds out in the fields.
At that time, shepherds occupied the lowest rung on the social ladder. Their word would not be accepted in a court of law. Yet God entrusted them with sharing the greatest story ever told with the whole world.
Back in the 1970s I worked for a number of years in Sligo town. I remember one character who was in and out of prison over a number of years. More in than out.
This particular Christmas, he was out of prison, homeless in the town. He told me he spent Christmas day alone in a broken down van beside the docks. “It was freezing cold and all I had was a tin of beans.
“I didn’t even have a tin opener and I had to open it with my teeth.” The thought struck me that, if Christ had walked into the town that Christmas day, he would have spent it with my friend in that broken-down van.
In my homily I like to welcome everyone, particularly those who have returned home to spend Christmas with their families. I usually refer to those who have to spend Christmas away from home, conscious of the fact that the Holy Family spent the first Christmas away from home.
I think priests would also have to acknowledge that there are people for whom Christmas isn’t news of great joy.
Some families have lost loved ones during the past year, some have suffered the break-up of a relationship, others may have lost their jobs and are suffering from financial problems. For them, the misery of Christmas is amplified when they see the lavish spending all around them.
Whatever life is saying to them at a particular time, it must be emphasised in the Christmas homily that God is with them.
Christmas story
The renowned American homilist and writer, William J. Bausch, places great emphasis on the effectivenes of telling a story in the homily.
He points out in his book Story Telling the Word that many people today are hostile to authority, past as well as present. All the institutions of the past, including the Church, have been found wanting.
We can no longer count on the signposts of old. He writes: “Only the imaginative that taps and evokes experience will persuade. Only the effective will get through. Hence the primary power of the story and the importance of awakening an experience through a story.”
Bausch argues not to focus on the sentimentality of the little baby, but on a fierce and passionate God, and his “commitment not to leave us abandoned”.
“What you have in the Christmas story is a terrible desire on God’s part to be with us, to be part of the human condition: our losses, our recessions, our disappointed and fractured relationships; the deaths we’ve had in the past year; the difficulties, the addictions, the alcohol, the drugs, sex; things that turn us upside down a great bit.
“In all of our entire human condition, the Christmas message is that God doesn’t want to leave us alone, but wants to reach out and be with us.”
I once told the story of the beautiful Christmas carol, Silent Night. How Fr Joseph Mohr was inspired to write the immortal words when he was coming back from answering a sick call and he surveyed the stillness and peace of the snow-clad Alps.
Another story that might be worth telling this year is what happened on Christmas Eve 100 years ago during World War I, when German and British soldiers laid down their arms and had a truce to celebrate Christmas. The image of light and darkness is also a favourite of mine and has ample scope for homily points.
I am glad of the opportunity to pen these few lines as we begin Advent. I must confess that there were times when I allowed the work of the Lord to get in the way of the lord of the work, and I arrived at Christmas eve with nothing prepared.
I still don’t know what I am going to say myself, but at least having to write this article has got me thinking.
Whatever our Christmas homily says, it must above all convey hope. People desperately need hope in today’s world. I will leave the last word to Pope Francis: “When God visits his people he restores hope to them. Always. You can preach the Word of God brilliantly: there have been many excellent preachers throughout history. But if these preachers have failed to sow hope, that sermon is useless. It is mere vanity.”
Fr Liam Devine is parish priest of Ss Peter & Paul’s parish in Athlone and the newly-appointed Vicar General of the Diocese of Elphin.