Christmas Dawn Mass

Scripture Readings: Is 62:11-12; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20

At Bethlehim shepherds saw angels and heard the good news of a Savior’s birth.  For a short time they could see and hear a world that is normally invisible.  In a children’s story titled, The Little Prince, an untamed fox tells the goldened haired boy from another planet that “What is most important is invisible.”

If we could see the invisible world that is all around us, we would be overwhelmed with happiness at the sight of all the people going to heaven even as we speak; and we would also be struck with dreadful fear at the sight of those falling into hell. 

Today a Child is born who sees the invisible world.  He is our eyes and ears to what is most important.  By following him, we who are blind and deaf will be saved and come to see and hear with great rejoicing what is now hidden from our eyes and ears.

 

Christmas Dawn Mass

[Scripture Readings: Is 62:11-12; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20 ]

Bethlehem Cave An early Church Father, Justin Martyr, writes, “When the Child was born in Bethlehem, since Joseph could not find lodging in the village, he went to a cave nearby; and while there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed Him in a manger.”

Twenty years ago, I visited these caves high up on a hillside at Bethlehem. When I looked across the valley stretched out below all the way to the Dead Sea, there is one site that dominates the view. It is the fortress of King Herod, called the Herodium, built on top of a cone shaped hill,The Herodium rising almost 2,500 feet above the plain. King Herod built this palace and fortress as a protection for his future, a defense against those who would try to topple him from his throne. But his best hope for the future was not in a fortress. It was in a baby born in a cave only three miles away. Today it is easy for us and our country to make the same mistake by relying on our own strength and resources to protect us from harm. Because it is Jesus, and Jesus alone who will save us for eternal life.