Homily for the Nativity of the Lord

Who among us here has not walked through the darkness? 

We have experienced the darkness of ominous world events. 

We have faced the darkness of our own pettiness. 

We have known the darkness of grasping when we should have held tenderly. 

We have felt the darkness of broken promises—our own and others. 

We have encountered the darkness of unfulfilled ambitions from our youth. 

We have confronted the darkness of disappointment. 

We have struggled with the darkness of chronic sickness. 

We have grieved the darkness of loss. 

We have dealt with the darkness of impatience with others, even those we love—perhaps especially those we love. 

We have experienced the darkness of coveting what others have. 

We have faced the darkness of giving up on ourselves and quitting too soon. 

We have known the darkness of feeling empty in a society of consumption. 

We have lived in the darkness of being comfortable with the status quo, even when it means that children go to bed hungry, working families lack health care benefits, and people around the world are oppressed. 

We have wrestled with the darkness of sin and recognized our own limits. 

But there is a star rising in the East. Today, the light of Christ shines anew. The light of Christ enlightens our lives, our homes, our workplaces, and our neighborhoods. It shines in the empathy we show one another, in our moments of generosity, in our acts of courage, in our exercise of virtue, and in our wild abandon for the love of God. The light of Christ is reflected in the eyes of those we love and in the hearts of those who love us. This light shines forth from you and me and from all of us who gather here to become the body of Christ. 

We live in a mixture of light and shadows. Today, we witness the truth that the light has come into the world, and the darkness cannot overcome it. All the darkness in the world can never extinguish even the most minor light. And the light of Christ is no small light. May we, in our joy and anticipation and in our Christmas hope, dedicate ourselves this year to seeking the light. Let us follow the light daily through the practice of our faith, allowing the light of Christ to shine through us to everyone we meet. 

We gather today with our hearts full of hope and our faces aglow in starlight to celebrate Jesus, the Christ, the light of the world. God has seen us even as we have walked in darkness and deemed us worthy of this incredible outpouring of love: Jesus, God’s Son, becomes human for our sake on this holy night.

“A people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” Let us follow that light wherever it leads us: to our best and brightest selves in love with God.