I have a friend from Chicago whose name is Fr. Robert Carlton.  He is a good priest, and a funny guy... he grew up on the north side of Chicago, but he is a New York Yankees fan because he lived there for awhile.  So he loves the big city, yet, he has this kind of fascination with the country, with Iowa.

So every now and then, he comes over from Chicago to visit me, which he did again just this last weekend.  Now, when I met Robert in seminary, he always called me Boss. It was kind of funny to me, even when I was a Boss before I became a priest nobody called me Boss.

Anyway, I found out why… He was in the military for a while, and since he has a bad memory for names, he just called everybody Boss.  So when we met in seminary, he couldn’t remember my name either and just called me Boss.  

And naturally I called him Boss back because it was so unusual to me, and now when he comes to visit, my whole family calls him Fr. Boss, to the point that when I say “Fr. Robert is coming to visit.” They say, “who? Oh, Fr. Boss, okay. Got it.”

So this last Sunday we are driving on the highway, through the country to my parents’ house. So picture this: It’s about 8 o’clock pm which means by that time it’s already pitch dark. We’re driving county roads through the Iowa countryside really close to the Iowa river. There are no houses along the river valley but just a lot of trees. Every once in a while a car will drive by us on the other side of the road and illuminate the otherwise obscured environment. Boss says to me, “Boss, it is really dark out here.  Do you think if we shut the lights off we’d be able to see anything?” 

And I said, “well Boss, I don’t think that would be very safe to do, but i do think we’d be able to see something because of all these other cars out.” And he says, “Well maybe the Boss can try that closer to home.” And we keep driving.

So we are about two miles from my house, again in the country, no cars on this little country road, and the Boss tells me, “you know Boss, the first time I ever drove on a gravel road was coming to visit the Boss?”

So about that time, I took my chance and I clicked my headlights off, and Fr. Boss yells, “Boss!” And I clicked them right back on. It was only a split second, but it was so dark that I really scared him… And truthfully I kinda scared myself, I expected at least a little ambient light from the snow and the moon, but there was nothing. Just darkness outside and the light from my dashboard illuminating my hands on the steering wheel.

So I was thinking about that when I read tonight’s/today’s readings. These shepherds were out in the country, out in the darkness.  

They spent so many nights looking at the sky, all of these stars, and suddenly, the Christmas star appears, like it appeared here the other night, Jupiter and Saturn converge on the winter solstice which very well could have been the same thing as happened 2000 years ago.  

It hadn’t appeared in their lifetime, but now it does suddenly for them, they suspect something is happening.

Then as the Gospel says, “The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.”  It would be difficult to not be afraid, right? 

You’re a shepherd, just minding your own business in the pasture, trying to keep your sheep from wandering or getting snatched by a wolf, probably trying not to doze off too much during your watch and BOOM! Angel. 

The darkness is flooded with a dazzling white light. You shield your eyes against the brilliance and as they slowly adjust you see the Heavenly hosts. You fall to your knees in wonder and awe… and fear.

But at the same time, these were most likely Jewish shepherds. They knew the scriptures. They had heard the prophets foretell the coming of the Messiah, which we heard in our first reading, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.”

So these lights, the star and the angels, would have been a great sign to them. As they come to their senses and the shock of surprise wears away, they’d begin to recognize the amazing implications of what they just witnessed. The Messiah is born. 

And we know the rest of the story, we know they go to see the newborn King for themselves, but the point is that when we are in darkness and especially when we are acutely aware of that darkness, we can more easily see and appreciate the light, especially the light of Jesus in our world.

This was certainly true in my life.  The darkest moment of my life was about fifteen years ago. I was in a relationship which wasn’t healthy for me. My whole family was worried about me. Eventually, we broke up and it was horrible. It was then, worst and darkest moments, it was then that I experienced God’s love for me, it was a light in my life. 

For me, it wasn’t a grand burst of light, but Jesus slowly filled my life with light. It was through listening to Christian music; It was through going to Mass again; It was through seeking Jesus in prayer that He opened my eyes to the light... It was then that I had hope.

God’s love, His love and mercy for me that time gave me the strength to go on, to go towards that light, to seek out the love of God, because I knew it was real, I knew the hope and joy I had was more than a feeling, like those shepherds I had to seek God.  

Sometimes, when we live in relative peace and comfort, there are many lights in our lives, but they are often distracting lights: work, sports, music, food, drink, relationships.  

Good or bad, it’s not the point, the point is these lights only last for a time and they’re small… The light of Christ lasts forever! If these little consolations are like nightlights, then Jesus is like the sun!

I believe it is safe to say that this has been a dark year for many of us.  The Churches were shut down for two and a half months, many people still haven’t gone back to Mass, in addition to being cut off from our Church community we have been cut off from our family and friends and many of the things we like to do socially.  It has been a dark year, and the darkness has been a cause for fear. 

But at the same time, hopefully it has clarified some things.  What is really important in our lives?  Where are the true lights in our lives? 

Life isn’t about the stuff or the entertainment, it is about being who God has called you to be. It’s about relationships with God and His family and learning how to love well, and when we are forced to enter into some darkness, we can see the light, especially the light of Jesus, whose birthday we celebrate.  

Paradoxically, we celebrate His birth because of His death, another dark time in history, literally, the bible says “when it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.” And that was when Jesus breathed His last.  

But from that darkness on Friday, He rose again on Easter Sunday, the victor over sin and death, thus freeing us from our sins as well, so this is the relationship we should be most concerned about.  “The grace of God has appeared, saving all

and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ...”

So we celebrate His birthday because Jesus has given us hope in new life, hope for eternal life, that whatever happens here is not the end, our earthly lives are really just the beginning, where we will one day join the heavenly host singing, “Glory to God in the highest!”

And really, we already do that.  Our earthly liturgy is a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy. So thank you for celebrating that this evening/morning.

This Catholic Church of ours is full of signs and symbols that call our minds and hearts to the realities of Heaven. There’s one particular symbol I wanted to call your attention to today. The Church recognizes the importance and symbolism of light, and so there is always a light on in the church. 

Whenever you walk into a Catholic Church, you can always find Jesus by looking for the light, the red candle, it shows that Jesus is present in the tabernacle, which makes this the best place to pray, here in His true physical presence. Because Jesus is the light of our hearts, of our Church, of our world.

So we thank Jesus for always being the light in our darkness.  

We praise Him for the wonderful things He has done for us, especially freeing us from our sins.  

We ask Him to protect us and keep us from fear.  And...

We look to Him with hope and expectation for the future, confident that He will always be with us.