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CHRISTMAS MIDNIGHT Luke 2:1-14 |
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| Background: In this short selection, Luke, a master story-teller, spins a tale of wonder, crammed full of images that reappear often in Luke’s gospel. The Good News proclaimed by the angels leads us to the feeding trough of the manger where the food for the world, a tiny infant, the Divine wrapped in the swaddling clothes of humanity rests. The peace and salvation that this newborn will proclaim is for all. Most of us know this story by heart, having heard it so often. Still, it is rich with images that speak to all the hopes and dreams that fill our hearts this Christmas. |
read the padre |
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Story: Once upon a time, not too long ago, there were four late 30 something male commodity brokers who spent most of their free time together. They had season tickets to all the Chicago Bulls, Bears, Cubs (they were from Chicago’s Northside) and Blackhawks games. They hung around all the sports bars, glad handing their favorite players. Without even thinking twice about it, they took their dates to the most expensive restaurants, smoked the most expensive cigars, wore the most expensive watches and thoroughly enjoyed the good life. They did these things, not to be showy, but because they could afford it and it seemed that everyone they worked with did the same thing. Their dates were pretty much of the "love’em and leave’em variety since they thought they had lots of time to be married and weren’t ready to "settle down." One Christmas Eve, when their work day was over, they did the same thing they did at the end of every work day. They headed for the nearest celebrity bar only to find their sports hero absent, probably home with his wife and kids. They wandered from place to place not having any female companions that evening. All their female friends seemed to be tied up with families. Our brokers were not looking forward to the obligatory family dinners they would be attending the next day. Too many nieces and nephews and aunts and cousins to be gracious to would be a strain. And of course, there would be the questions about when were they going to settle down and find a wife and have a family. As they traveled from bar to bar and shared horror stories about Family Christmas gatherings, they became more and more depressed. Eventually they found themselves walking past the Cathedral as people were hurrying in to one of the Christmas Eve masses, greeting each other cheerily. This made them uneasy. None of them spent much time in church and they had no plans to attend a Christmas service. When they came to the convenience store just north of the Cathedral, one of them decided he wanted some gum. He entered the store to find the owner berating a young woman of about 17 who was in tears. He was able to ascertain that she was trying to buy a cheap Christmas toy for her daughter and did not have enough money to pay the tax on the item. The clerk was adamant. She must pay the tax. As she went to leave the store, our broker touched her arm and said, "I think you dropped this money I found just outside the door" and handed her two twenty dollar bills. She eyed him warily until he said, "I think your daughter will be happy with Santa’s gift." He tucked the money into her pocket and rapidly left the store without his gum. He told his buddies that he thought maybe he’s go back to the Cathedral since there wasn’t anything else to do. Having nothing to do themselves, the other three joined him. When they gathered at their favorite sports bar the day after Christmas, they all agreed they had been pleasantly surprised at what a good time they had with their families on Christmas Day. |
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