Basic HTML Version
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29
Acts of the Apostles 13:16-17, 22-25
Matthew 1:1-25 or 1:18-25
Reflection
On December 24, 1818, Father Joseph Mohr sat in his modest study preparing
his homily for midnight Mass. There was snow on the ground and it was a cold
and dark evening in a little village in the Austrian Alps. The eyes of the priest
were set on the text from the Gospel of Luke
“Behold I bring you good tidings of
great joy that shall be to all the people. For this day is born to you a savior.”
A
knock on his door interrupted his train of thought. The stranger announced that a
poor woman had given birth to a child, would he come urgently and give a bless-
ing so that the infant might live? The messenger and the priest trudged through
the deep snow climbing a difficult mountain path which led to an impoverished
shack. Prayerfully he blessed the mother and child. As he returned for Mass a
strange awareness came to him that he had just witnessed the miracle of Christ-
mas. After Midnight Mass he was still haunted by the beauty and simplicity of the
mother and child. The unseen and unknown miracle. The stillness and peace re-
vealed in that moment of God’s presence. He rose, went to his study and began
to write what had happened to him. His words kept turning into verse and before
dawn the poem was complete. The next day he took it to his friend Franz Gruber
who put it to music.
And thus we have
Silent Night
. When you hear this or sing it remember that it is
the gift of God’s miracle, the simple moment of grace, which gives heavenly
peace. The miracle is that something beyond this world
is gifted to us through everyday human experience. So
easy to miss. To accept inconvenience, to forgive with-
out demand, to be patient with human weakness, to
cheerfully bless the undeserving…this is “
Silent Night,
Holy Night”
which we pray together in holy rhythm.
At the Midnight Mass people tell me that they remember