Christmas Mass

Christmas 2021
I have studied Sacred Scripture long enough to know that we cannot put onto the Scriptures, our own 21^st century experience, and I also know that through my study I have come to understand that there is a predominant hermeneutic---a predominant lens through which the stories of our faith are mostly expressed…that is the hermeneutic of the masculine divine.

I am not being crass or snarky, yet I can assure you, if the story of the Incarnation would have been shared with us through the eyes and voice of Mary, or the voice of the feminine divine, we would most likely have an entirely different understanding and perspective of this feast.  We may well even celebrate it, in a different way, than we have come to celebrate it today.

If you see the cover of our worship aide tonight, and the picture of our electronic newsletter, you will be seeing what would have been a 1^st Century animal shelter cave, which we call a manger…
As a Dad and Husband, even in my wildest dreams, or wildest nightmare, I cannot even imagine experiencing the birth of one of our children in such a space.
I know what it was like, and believe me I will never forget, either birth of our two girls, and I simply cannot imagine a cave outside of a town, because there was no room at the Inn….
I can hear Mary say to Joseph…really?  Really?  You have got to be kidding me!  What were you thinking?  Oh that’s right, you are a carpenter, you work with wood not planning the birth of your child….and then comes the most infamous, painful and dreaded words of every marital relationship…It’s Fine…(translation: this will never, ever, ever be forgotten).
And then, on top of that, in the midst of the pain, mess and confusion of childbirth in a cave outside of town, a bunch of the most disrespected people in society show up…Shepherds…dirty, stinky, the one’s few people trust, and they tell you another story of God appearing to them in the Angels in the field.
I wonder if Mary’s Gospel might say something like this:
Let me tell you about God…I am writing this so you know what this whole thing is about.  Let me forewarn you, you would never ever guess this is how God operates!

You never, ever know what is going to happen to you or when.  But the biggest challenge of this whole God thing that you will face,  is to remain open to the excitement of what might be.
Sometimes, God will do amazing things, you will wonder how it ever happened.  Sometimes God will invite you to places you never, ever wanted to go, or thought you ever would go.  But if you allow yourself to go, if you dare to follow your dreams, those dreams given to you by God, you will be surprised beyond your imagination.
And let me tell you too…the guys will take all the credit and tell you an entirely different story!
 
I am certain, if the voice of the feminine were spoken in one or more of the Gospels which we proclaim today, would have a much different perspective than what we have grown accustomed to.
Now for the challenge of the Christmas season…
What would our Gospel say?
If somehow, all the Bibles in the world were destroyed in some great book disaster.
If somehow an alien being appeared before us on earth and asked us about this thing they had heard about in some interstellar time capsule…that we humans believed in a thing called God…
What would we say?  What stories would our lives tell?  Or what stories from our lives would we tell to share the Good News of our amazing God?
Luke starts off the Gospel with these words:
“Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honorable Theophilius, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.” Luke 1:2

I wonder if maybe in these twelve days of the Christmas Season, we might begin to write down what we would say to someone else about the God in whom we believe.  Maybe it extends to the Season of Lent…just think how utterly amazing it could be for us to put our words on our story…
Who knows….maybe Angels will appear for us as well?
Merry Christmas!