Christmas : Homily / Sermon

All is Calm, All is Bright

Christmas can be stressful, especially for families. It can also be painful, particularly for those who have suffered loss. It can be difficult for so many people, such as the sick, the lonely, the downtrodden.

I want to take you back, 200 years, to another stressful Christmas, And to a man who was the priest of the small village of Oberndforf  in the Austrian alps. His name was Josef Mohr.

As the priest faced that Christmas he was more than a little despondent. The organ in the church was out of action - at Christmas of all times. Some blamed rust, others said it was the work of mice, but whatever the cause, there would be no organ over Christmas.

And an added disappointment, on 23rd December 1818, just two days before Christmas, a travelling band of actors had arrived in the village ready to perform and sing their own nativity play for the villagers. 

With no organ, the performance had to be moved from the Church to a private house.
It was not how it should have been, and Josef was dismayed at the situation for his parish and its people, but the performance nevertheless lifted Josef’s spirit a little, and put him in a reflective mood. Instead of walking straight to his house that night, he decided to take a longer way home, climbing a hill which overlooked the village.

From that hilltop, Josef looked down on the peaceful snow-covered village. It was silent, calm and bright, the lights of the sky glistening in the snow which dusted the alpine scene.
The Christmas play had reminded him of a poem which he had written a couple of years earlier, about the night when angels announced the birth of the Christ child to shepherds on a hillside. The words would have made a good a carol for the next day, he thought, if only he had the music.
The next day, he seized upon an idea and decided to act. Josef went to visit to the church organist, Franz Gruber. He set Franz a challenge - before midnight mass, now just a few hours away, he had to come up with a melody which could be sung to the words of the poem, a melody which could be accompanied not by the organ, by instead by a guitar.
And sure enough, by the evening, Gruber had composed a simple but instantly memorable setting for the poem. The fact that the organ wasn’t working didn’t matter now: they had a carol, a melody, and a guitar to guide and accompany them.
The carol didn’t just rescue that year’s midnight mass - it became an extraordinary success. It quickly spread far and wide, and has become a constant feature in Christmas masses and Carol Services ever since. It even has its own museum in Salzburg.
The Carol - as you probably know - is Silent Night - and it is 200 years old tonight.
It is a small miracle: charming in its simplicity, remarkable in its creation, inspiring in its message which is conveyed both in its words and in its beautiful melody.

Christmas is full of such small miracles. Of smiles and laughter, of music and song, of joy and beauty, of compassion and generosity.
Yes it can be stressful. It has its poignant moments and its sadnesses..

But at its heart is about life and love, about faith and mercy, about peace and hope.
Love’s pure light …
The dawn of redeeming grace …

What trials, stresses or anxieties we may bear, may the grace of God help us to take comfort in these simple words:
All is Calm, all is bright.

— 

The images are a portrait of Fr Josef Mohr, and a photograph of the Silent Night Chapel in Oberndorf, Austria, which is on the site of St Nikolas Church, where Stille Nacht was first sung on Christmas Eve 1818.

Advent 4 (C) : Homily / Sermon

Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? (Luke 1:43)

Visiting relatives and friends is an important part of the observance of Christmas, isn’t it?
Of course we can send cards - and we do, in great quantity and at extraordinary cost.
We can write and receive letters - including those dreadful show-offy circular letters that some people seem to go in for.
Though perhaps those older, more established ways of communication, in  recent times they have given way more and more to technology - to phone calls of course, but also emails, texts, and Facebook messages. Skype and FaceTime too, have made such contacts so much easier and better, especially when relatives live so far away.  
But despite all these possibilities, nothing quite replaces the visit, the face to face encounter. 
We may sometimes find it a chore to be visited or to visit, but often too it is a great joy. To see how much the children have grown. To catch up with news - sad and glad. To remark how much someone is ‘looking well’ (put weight on) or looks exactly the same (has aged) or must take care of themselves (looks ill). No remotely transmitted message, however necessary and however kindly meant can replace the personal contact. And sometimes - let’s not forget - what is a chore for one party may be a joy for the other.
Todays Gospel is about a Christmas visit (well sort of). And it is an encounter which St Luke narrates to us with this beautiful detail - that the presence of Christ within His mother touched both Elizabeth and her unborn child with joy. And it is the greeting of Mother which brings that presence of Son.
When we are visited or visit we make similar encounters. We bring Christ to others and we meet him in others. We are blessed through what may seem a simple duty. Christ will be born amongst us, if we make him present through our greetings, our compassion and our love.