Bishop Keenan preached at the Midnight Mass of Christmas in St Mirin's Cathedral. Read the text below:

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Christmas Midnight Mass 2023

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

It is wonderful for us to gather here together in the splendour of this Night.  

We gather at midnight, in the dead of night, because we want to remind ourselves of the darkness in which our world stumbles without its Messiah; the land of deep shadow into which it descends when it is deprived of the presence of its Emmanuel. 

The darkness represents the heavy burden on our backs of these times, and the present sadness that seems to bear down on the whole world today with ever more foreboding; whether it be our troubled social and economic times, or the further away gloom of terrible wars springing up once more, or the anxiety of watchful information technologies and the menace on the edges of social media culture, or even if it be the existential threat to Creation itself out of our relentless exploitation of its natural resources.  All these together represent the darkness of this night, a yoke weighing on humanity, a bar sensed ever more keenly across our shoulders, the footgear of a new century’s battles and cloaks rolled in blood.

In this darkness of this night we gather to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries.  They are the Mysteries of the Light that shines in the darkness and that the darkness cannot master, the Mysteries of the Messiah Emmanuel, of GOD among us our hope of glory.  Tonight, in this Eucharist, the LORD appears before us in all His glory, radiant with the splendour of the true light He brings in His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the great Light that has shone on our world. 

Tonight, in the dimness of these times which we feel all around us, we call down the light of Heaven, its bright fire to consume the evil that piles up all around.  In this darkness we seek the light of the Father’s countenance shining in the face on the newborn Babe of Bethlehem.  It is the only light that can bring back joy to our world, and increase in our gladness, great like a new harvesting of the earth or a fresh sharing of the victory of battles.  
Saint Luke reminds us that the night on which the LORD was born passed over in the middle of a census of the whole world, so that when a stocktake would be demanded of all of humanity, GOD and His Son would be numbered among the human race.  Jesus, LORD of all Creation, is now in our midst as the Father’s remedy to all the problems of the world as a whole.  World dominion is laid upon His shoulders so that He can lead humanity out of its prison into the freedom on the children of men.  He, and He alone, is our world’s Wonder-Counsellor, its Mighty-God, its Eternal-Father and its Prince-of-Peace.  His dominion is as wide as Creation itself and the promise He brings is not of temporary ceasefires but of a lasting peace without end.  It is so because His peace is founded on justice and integrity enjoyed equally and by all.  From the time of His birth in Bethlehem onwards and forever, the jealous love of the LORD of Hosts will do this.

As Christians, we are called to follow the Child of Bethlehem whose heart and mission were open to the whole world.  As Christians, the problems of the earth are our problems; the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the world in our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of all of us as followers of Christ. Nothing that is genuinely human and of concern to the world today fails to find an echo in our hearts.  For with Christ, the Church is the bearer of a message of salvation for all humanity and feels deep solidarity with the human race in this moment of its history.

At the same time, the LORD’s mission to the world began at home, in his own town of Bethlehem where He was registered with Mary and Joseph.  With the whole world in a state of flux, Joseph and Mary were not without their own pressing concerns in their small patch of Bethlehem.  The preoccupations of their fellow citizens in their own little town left them no room at the Inn, so that even among their own people they could not see quite how or where they belonged.   Amid all the kerfuffle, they had to make do with a manger for the little one’s bed and swaddling clothes, or strips of cloth, hastily cut and bound around His body to keep it from the cold and the wolf from the door.

As Christians, even with hearts open to the world, we are called to live among the struggles of our own people and light a candle where we are in the problems of our own neighbourhoods, cities and country.  As Saint Paul reminds Timothy, GOD’s grace made the hope of salvation possible where he was, for him and his fellow citizens in the city where he lived his faith.  As Christians who are the soul of our nation, we are called to help the LORD bring His glory to our own neighbourhood and country by our proclamation of the Good News in the witness of our lives.  We live as a reminder to our brothers and sisters that the  Light has come into the world and calls each one of us and our nation to  conversion, to turn again towards that Light that only heals and gives life; to giving up everything that does not lead to this Light of GOD among us; to surrender our petty concerns and worldly ambitions for status, wealth and pleasure that blind us to our true destiny and glory.   We encourage others by our witness of good, religious and self-restrained lives that show we are living not for this world alone but are waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the Appearing of the glory of our Great GOD and Saviour Jesus Christ.  And so, encouraged by the LORD’s sacrifice of Himself, our lifestyles help set free our culture from all wickedness.  In this way we begin to purify those around us so that they too can be GOD’s very own, with no other ambition except to do good.

The Christmas story reminds us that the LORD’s dominion over the world began in His family life with Joseph and Mary.  It was in a family that lived in far from ideal circumstances, often on the move, sometimes without security; a family not unlike the families of our modern world, beset by profound and rapid changes, bewildered over their role in it, affected by its injustices and searching for the ultimate meaning of their family life. 

Yet it was a family faithful to the values that constitute every good family, of love and respect, gratitude and sensitivity, self-giving and sacrifice, communities of faith, hope, and love, of faithfulness to the end.  And so, from the heart of a family, the salvation of GOD’s People and the gentile world began.  As goes the family so goes the world!  

This Christmas, we pray the Holy Family of Bethlehem intercedes for our own and every family so that in our homes the Word can become flesh anew and show His glory from there again and offer new light and fresh hope to our poor and longing world.

Gaudete! Gaudete! Christus est natus ex Maria Virgine! Gaudete!