Father Gary F. Lazzeroni

We gather this evening to tell a story that is ancient and ever new. It is a story about the birth of a child two thousand years ago in a little corner of the Roman empire. In this obscure place a long time ago, everything changed. It was at that time and place that God came among us in the flesh.

God, who has existed for all time, takes flesh in a little child. This is the ancient story, a story so powerful that we never tire of hearing it. It is a story that is ever new.

If you have any doubt about the newness of this ancient story, all you have to do is look at the face of these children, or of any child as they anticipate this great day.

But this feast is ever new for us adults too. This story, that tells the depth of God’s love for us, can touch our hearts and make them young again. This story is ancient and ever new because it is told this night, and in its telling we are plunged, right now, into its saving power.

As we gather in this sacred place, the Lord wants to come to us and make his home among us and in us. Our manger scene reminds us of how small God becomes for us. In a fragile child, born in poverty to two faithful, and faith-filled people, we see how much we are loved.

If we come here this evening with burdens, God wants to be part of that, wants to carry those with you and with me. If we come with the burden of worry for someone we love; if we come with the burden of a health challenge in our own lives; if we come here uncertain or in pain about a relationship in our lives; if we come here lonely; if this is the first Christmas without a loved-one; if we come here worried about the challenges we are facing as a nation, or the challenges in our world, the story we tell is of our God who is with us in these challenges, and wants to carry them with us.

If we come here this night with joy and grateful hearts, God wants to be part of that too, wants to exult with us. If we come here grateful for the many blessings God has bestowed on us; if we come with a deep joy and gratitude for family and friends; if we come celebrating Christmas with a child for the first time; if we come celebrating with family we haven’t seen for a long time, the story we tell is of our God who is with us in the midst of all that joy.
If we come here after having been away from Mass for awhile; if we come here searching for answers, for a direction, for some sense of the holy and the divine, the story we tell is of our God who is with us in the midst of our searching.

The story we tell, ever ancient and ever new, is a simple story. It is a story about love - God’s love for us. It is a love that is so passionate that he becomes flesh of our flesh. He comes to us in Jesus of Nazareth, born in the first third of the first century in Bethlehem of Judea.

The story, the event, from long ago and far away, changed everything. And in the telling of that ancient story he is with us. The one who comes to us in love as a little child, who grew up and lived and preached the saving word of God, who was crucified and died for us out of love, and who the Father raised from the dead, is with us this night - He is now the Risen Christ, living with us.

He never leaves us. Even if we wander away, he is always there, always here, with us. Even if it feels like he’s absent sometimes, he is there, he is here, with you, with us.

That, my friends is the Good News of this night. That is the story that is ever ancient and ever new. I invite you to allow this most beautiful story into your heart. I invite you to allow this ancient love story to penetrate the story of your life. I invite you to allow yourself to be carried along by this story of a love that is ever ancient and ever new.

May all of us know that love now, and all the days of our lives.

804 Ninth Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
Phone 206.622.3559 Fax 206.622.5303