My dear people:

In the mind of many, the Christian God has been defeated, if He was ever real.  God has been vanquished for good by the tiny virus Covid.  If God were what He was supposed to be, He would have done away with the pandemic right away and saved the world from these nasty bugs.  The wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East are more recent concrete proofs of God’s glaring impotence.  

But one hundred and eleven years ago tonight, on Christmas Eve 1914, an incredible event took place on the Western Front in France during WWI.  After an all-night snowfall that covered the battlefield with a serene white powder, unusual lights began to appear all across the German lines.  The British camp didn’t know what to make of it and thought the Germans were preparing for an attack.  Instead of the sound of artillery fire however, the sound of singing made its way across no man’s land – the stretch of land between the enemy trenches.  To their amazement, the German soldiers were singing the tune of a well-known Christmas song – “Stille Nacht” (“Silent Night”).  The British soldiers, not to be undone, responded with their own Christmas carols.  A mutual curiosity and respect came across the soldiers at both camps and they began to applaud each other’s singing.  Being caught up in the joy of the moment, a German officer appeared and walked out to the middle of no man’s land and a British officer went out to meet him amidst cheering from both camps.  When they finally met, they formally saluted each other and shook hands.  It was unheard of in all the annals of military history.  

The improvised Christmas truce presented a chance for both camps to bury their dead.  According to some accounts, after most were buried, the soldiers from both sides gathered to honor their fallen comrades and read from the Bible – the 23rd Psalm.  In the horror of the trenches of the Western Front, the power of this holy night worked its grace. 

The secular world has no use for Christmas, because for them, God is a fantasy and religion is truly the opiate of the masses.  And so, nowadays, a truce like the truce of 1914 is unthinkable.  But we Christians know that we are not dealing with hocus-pocus, with superstitions, with phony good cheers, with spiritual opiates.  No, tonight, with burdens in our souls, sorrows in our hearts, with defeats and failures weighing heavily in our minds, we still present ourselves in Church to celebrate Christmas.  For hope springs eternal.  For true hope is not manufactured or fabricated by man willing is.  For true hope is always available for those who ask for us.  For the source of true hope is not in us, but in a little tiny infant.  And so, for tonight we come again to church, to Mass, in order to  touch again the greatest event in the history of the universe: the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  And we do this even in hope against hope.

Tonight, we bask in the light of a star that shines in the darkness.  We rejoice in a light that, no matter how dark the night may be, it can never be diminished.  The festivities of Christmas might have been gone from homes and streets and town squares.  Nowadays very few homes are decorated with Christmas lights and the Nativity scene.  But Christmas is forever something infinitely precious and powerful – just as it was 20 centuries ago - it is God Himself.  Go back to the trenches on that Christmas Eve of 1914: what happened that night?  Let me quote an author: “The wall of violence and hatred toppled as strangers were made welcome and mortal enemies became friends.  In the hell of no-mans’ land, God pitched His tent and heaven’s reign broke loose.”

Padre