Christmas Midnight Mass

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Friday, 24th December, 2004, at Midnight.

Introduction

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

“To you is born, in the city of David, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” ( Luke 2:11)

Tonight we are caught up by the wonder of God who took our human flesh to ennoble it and to lead us to truth and peace.

A very warm welcome to each of you here at Saint Patrick’s to celebrate the coming of our God to us as a person.

We are gathered in the beauty of this night, as together we pray and sing. We rejoice in the prayers and gifts of each other, while we obey the discipline of the Catholic Church, which indicates that only those who are of Catholic faith can receive Communion at the end of the Mass. We pray for the day when the oneness we express in prayer and song will be complete in the unity for which Jesus prayed at the end of his life.

The Saviour of the world has come down from heaven. Let us rejoice as we call to mind our sins and ask him for pardon, light and strength.

Homily

“Listen, I bring you news of great joy. A joy to be shared by the whole people. Today a Saviour has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord.” ( Luke 2:11)

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

“A Saviour is born for us.” An abiding memory of Christmas is how a wave of tenderness and hope fills our hearts with an overpowering need for closeness and peace.

Throughout most of this month, as we come to the end of another year, people have been urged to stop their normal busyness and have become involved in celebrations, gift giving and the realisation of the goodness and dignity of people. This is because our God came to be like us.

In the crib we contemplate the one who stripped himself of divine glory in order to become poor, driven by love for mankind. Beside the crib the Christmas tree with its twinkling lights reminds us that with the birth of Jesus the tree of life has blossomed anew in the desert of humanity.

When he was born in Bethlehem, Jesus, the eternal Son of God, entered into the story of each of us. In the world of 2004 we note far too many conflicts, much hatred and irreconcilable differences in our society. We struggle with the breakdown in family life and even our statisticians agree that the great suffering of abortion is a huge burden upon women and men alike. We search for a solution that will ease pain, respect life from its earliest moments and nurture and guide all those who are burdened through life. The increased danger of terrorism and the mindless wastage of life and resources bring us back to our responsibilities.

We turn to the God who took our human flesh to save us from the great evils which rend humanity, from the violence which assails the weak and the vulnerable and from discouragement as we face difficult paths with profound hope.

Christmas is a time when our God challenges us. In the words of Titus, “To give up everything that does not lead to God. To live good and religious lives while we are waiting in hope for the blessing, which will come with the appearing of our Saviour.” ( Titus 2:12-13 Passim)

Pope John Paul II has announced that the Year of the Eucharist beginning last October will enable us to focus our lives on Jesus. He challenges all Catholics to make Sunday Mass an essential part of their week because it is the weekly meeting with Jesus which will nourish and sustain us so that the deeds of the week will be inspired by Jesus who gave himself for us. He wants us ‘to see the heavens’, not to remain in the limited vision of here and now. He stresses that we carry Jesus in our lives so that people see in us the life of Christ alive in the present world.

Our example in defending life, in working to bring people together, in rejecting war and terrorism and in proclaiming the essential goodness of people is a service that we can and must render to our society.

This service begins with our contact with Christ. Without it we cannot be one in mind and heart with him and cannot offer the hope that we need to offer the world and which is our gift to our family and to society.

A sincere commitment to Sunday Mass and to Christian example and service are the challenges which the Lord invites us to fulfil this Christmas and throughout 2005.

In the words of Pope John Paul last Christmas, “And you Mary, who hold the secret of Christmas, make us able to recognise in the child whom you hold in your arms, the heralded Saviour who brings hope and peace to all. With you we worship him and trustingly say: we need you, Redeemer of man. You who know the hopes and fears of our hearts. Come and stay with us, Lord.”

My dear friends, may the joy of the Nativity reach deep into your hearts and give you encouragement and hope. May our prayers tonight touch the hearts and lives of those close to you and reach out as a beacon to our society, so much in need of remembering who we are, how we need each other and how Christ is the origin and goal of all that is truly human.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.