Tuesday, December 9, 2014

What Makes Christmas Real?
by Tom Baker

     I have had one miracle attributed to me. I don't actually think I performed the miracle but, as I said, it was attributed to me.
     It happened my second year as a priest at midnight Mass. I was giving my sermon and a baby began to cry. Usually when this happened I would keep talking, turning away from the crying. The mother (or the father or the older sister in a big Catholic family) would get the hint and leave. But this mother and child were stuck in the middle of the pew, in a packed church. She was going to sit the screaming out.
     This child was loud. So I stopped, and remembering that it was Christmas Eve, said, "Tonight, I love the crying of this child; it reminds me that 2,000 years ago the crying of a child was the voice of God --- maybe it still is.'
     And just like that the child stopped crying. And there was a hush in the church that was a hush beyond quiet, it was the feel of people listening to silence. Then people, chuckled. And afterwards they proclaimed it a miracle.
     But what I remembered was the hush. That moment so quiet and bright and still that you might hear the music in light or appreciate the voice of God in the cry of a child.

"May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in all ways."  2 Thessalonians 3:16

**** Excerpts from Unity's Advent 2014 "Christmas in My Heart" Booklet

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