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Bishop's Homily for Christmas Day

December 25, 2024

(Jang's Studio / Shutterstock.com)

Homily of Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu
[Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, Honolulu (with Opening of Jubilee Year 2025); Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu]

Today I received an email from a priest-friend in Myanmar, or Burma, where a civil war has been raging for a couple of years now.  He asked for prayers, because his area is in a “red zone.”  But he told me they had a beautiful celebration of Christmas.  Also today, I watched a live broadcast of the Mass of Christmas Night at the church in Bethlehem, which is over the cave where Jesus was born.  The Cardinal Patriarch of Jerusalem presided, and as we know that area of the world is also rocked by a war that has been going on for almost a year and a half.  Yet they still celebrated Christmas with great joy. Some people will have to celebrate Christmas in the hospital, either because of their own illness or to be with a loved one who is sick.  While never ideal, many will still celebrate this feast with as much joy as they can muster under the circumstances.  All of these situations are counter-intuitive.  We would think Christmas would simply be cancelled; but no, Christmas is still celebrated as one of the most joyful times of year.

This, I believe, is the meaning of hope.  We do not see what we desire – in fact we may see just the opposite – yet we still celebrate with joy.  As we enter this Jubilee Year of 2025 with the theme of “Pilgrims of Hope,” the example of our brothers and sisters who are suffering yet still rejoice is a great inspiration to us.  And we are called, as pilgrims of hope, to give that same example to others.

We can look at the world and see that it is filled with much darkness: wars, political conflicts, domestic violence, sickness, divisions in families and communities, infidelities, and divisions.  It is easy to thicken the darkness with a pessimistic attitude, believing that the world has always been a dark place to live and that it will always be so.  But we are told that “a people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in a land of gloom, a light has shone.” And we know WHO that light is:  Jesus Christ, God from God, light from light.  He comes amidst great rejoicing and abundant joy, even though the circumstances of his birth were not ideal.  His parents were forced, at the worst possible time, to leave their familiar home in Nazareth just to conform to the law of a Roman Emperor, who was occupying their country and wanted an accurate count of his subjects, probably to better apportion taxes.  Expecting to stay in an inn as most travelers do, Mary and Joseph found that there was simply no room, so they spent the night in a stable, where their dear Son was born, and laid, not in a comfortable crib but in a feeding trough for animals.  Yet their joy could not be contained.  They did not lose hope, but rejoiced in their little boy.

That night, the heavens were stirred into a frenzy of joy, as angels appeared to the lowliest shepherds – these heavenly beings interacting with the most down-to-earth people, to rejoice that heaven was now wedded to earth in this newborn child, Jesus.  Those who knew the ways of sheep very well, went in haste to see the finest Lamb they had ever seen, the Lamb of God.  That encounter changed their lives forever, though they continued the mundane task of caring for sheep.  When they saw the infant Jesus lying in a feeding trough, they could not have known that he would later give himself as food to us, so that he could consummate this marriage of heaven and earth.  On that joyful night, no one could have guessed that this child would take upon himself all the darkness of the world, being put to death by sin and pride.  No one could have imagined that he would still rejoice because he conquered death in his resurrection, and that the same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem 2025 years ago, would still be with us, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, whenever we come here to encounter him in the Eucharist.  We not only adore him as the shepherds did, but we take him into ourselves in the most intimate and holy communion.  We therefore leave this church, not simply as individuals, but with Jesus himself within us and among us.  We leave as pilgrims of hope, so that wherever there is darkness, Jesus can continue to bring great light; wherever there is the shadow of death, others will be able to see the Light of Life.  And then, though there still may be the darkness of wars, conflicts and sins, no one can take away from us the joy that we feel because the Word has become flesh and still dwells among us.  As pilgrims of hope, we go out from here to sing the song of the angels, throughout the years and wherever we go: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace!”