Father Adam Laski – “Do not be afraid…”
I am very blessed to get to spend this Christmas season with all of you. I am grateful for the beautiful ways God has been working in each of your families throughout this year, and the ways you’ve invited me to share them with you. I am edified by sharing in beautiful moments of grace with each baptism, confession, funeral, & Holy Mass. We experience an awesome opportunity during the Christmas season to be called to serve those who are coming back to mass after a long absence and to preach the Gospel by our word and example.
If it has been a while since you have thought about God, or you are trying to get started again in the spiritual life, the image of the shepherds might be helpful for you. The shepherds’ sudden experience of God presenting himself through the message of his angels would have shocked them. They probably had never seen an angel before, or had any expectation that God was going to come their way that night, but instead they see God’s angels present, singing “Hosanna in the highest.” This wasn’t something the shepherds expected at all- so the angels say, “Do not be afraid.”
Do you ever feel like an invitation to Christian life comes with almost too much of a demand, or when you think about following after Jesus, the whole thing seems like it makes demands that are too overwhelming? The angels say to the shepherds and to you, “do not be afraid.”
The shepherds were just going about their duty, watching their sheep, this was likely their whole lifestyle, so it wasn’t as if they hadn’t watched sheep at night before, or been out in the cold. But suddenly, getting the heavenly down-low that God was coming to earth might have appeared to be a bit too much- too much of a direct contact with something they’d never seen before, and too much of a direct contact with God. The message of the angels showing up, and announcing to them good news of great joy, might have caused them to feel a little overwhelmed, or like they weren’t cut out for receiving such a message. The Angels say, “Do not be afraid”
Those coming to Mass after a long while might feel that they aren’t good enough to be here. Like the rest of these people at Mass are at worst scary hypocrites, or at best happy cherubs, but they feel like they’re not cut out for it. Like this whole divine story of faith, and God’s love is for someone better suited to get the message: The angels say to you, “Do not be afraid.
I imagine the shepherds were probably tracking the same route to and from their pasture over and Continued from page 1
…over again, they were likely set on the route, how to get there, and knew how each step of the journey was going to go. Right amid their well-planned and traveled route, they encounter the “Gloria” of the angels on full blast. The news is that they need to go to Bethlehem to see the child to be born, who will be a sign to them. Then the angels sing “Glory to God in the highest.” The message isn’t what they were expecting, so their route and their plan change, taking a hard left to Bethlehem, to see this Jesus guy up close and in person.
Why do you come to Mass on Christmas? Maybe Grandma grabs you by the earlobe, or Mom halls you in her minivan but the reason you are here is that if you want to meet Jesus, the same sign that was shared with the shepherds to help them believe for the first time, is the same thing we consider on Christmas.
Jesus, the son of God was born today 2023 years ago in a tiny town, Bethlehem. He shows up right in the middle of your comfortable life, and invites you to travel by a different way. To leave the “you,” you are comfortable with, and to become a person whose whole life and purpose revolve around Jesus. The invitation is the baby Jesus in the manger, the gospel says “and this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Do not be afraid to let him change the direction of your life. God bless you and Merry Christmas!
-Rev Adam J Laski (Pastor of St Joseph; Our Lady of Lourdes; St John; & Holy Trinity).