The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) 2015

Published: December 25, 2015

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily during the midnight Mass at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock on Friday, Dec. 25, 2015.

Bishop Taylor

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown." "Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord." Most people in today's world walk in darkness and our world is desperately in need of a savior! A Savior who has already come "for a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests."

Who in today's world "dwell in a land of gloom?" Most obviously the people of Syria, a place of civil war and chaos, where the ruler murders his own people. Herod murdered, at most, a few hundred baby boys of only one town, Bethlehem. Assad kills thousands of his own people, as does the so-called Islamic State.

Who in today's world are "walking in darkness?" Obviously the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing for their lives, much like the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt to save the life of their Son. Who in today's world is now knocking on doors looking for room in the inn? You've got it, these very same refugees.

The innkeepers of Bethlehem at least had the excuse that they had no room, but we've got plenty of room — and so no excuse. Someone did manage at least to find a stable to shelter the Holy Family at the moment of Jesus' birth, but unlike the people of Canada or Germany or Sweden or even France, we are unwilling to do even that.

Talk of giving priority to national security is misleading; we already have an extremely thorough vetting process in place and we are no more vulnerable than those other countries are.

We naturally have fears, but far from shining light into the darkness of those fears, demagogues exploit those fears for their own purposes, just like King Herod who went over to the dark side out of fear that he would be displaced by the newborn King of the Jews.

Fear blinded him to the fact that the child born today was no threat and would instead be the source of countless blessings. Previous waves of immigrants and refugees — our ancestors — sparked many fears among insecure Americans in the past and yet they are what has made our nation great.

But we don't have to go to Syria to find people who "dwell in a land of gloom." Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for teenagers and the fourth leading causes of death for all adults. The gloom of depression is widespread in this most fortunate nation on the planet. Drug abuse and promiscuity are self-defeating attempts to escape gloom and loneliness.

Many Americans have no moral compass. They "walk in darkness" and even label as bigots those who attempt to "shed light" on what is really at stake in the immoral behaviors to which they are drawn and for which they demand approval.

Our nation is filled with people "stumbling along in the darkness", armed to the teeth and fearful of foreigners, disillusioned by our leaders, anxious about our future, and worried that correcting the economic and environmental injustices in our world called for by Pope Francis will somehow come at our expense.

So on Christmas we recall that our future is in God's hands — as well as our own. He has sent us a Savior. We can wreck it by refusing to come to the light, but the light is shining in the darkness. In our "land of gloom a light has shown." In Syria and along the pathways of the migrants. Among alienated teenagers. And among those filled with grief and suffering the wounds of sins they now deeply regret.  

There is a path out of that darkness and today is born a Savior to show us the way. It will involve embracing the cross, like he did. It will involve personal sacrifice for the common good, doing God's will rather than our own, like he did — and it will lead to resurrection.

The light is more powerful than the darkness. Jesus is that light and on Christmas he sends us forth with the Wise Men and the shepherds to bring that light to others, bringing hope and mercy — indeed, salvation — to others and to our world ... such that through us also the words of Scripture may be fulfilled: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown." "Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord."