January 2010 - St. Michael's Abbey
January 2010 - St. Michael's Abbey
January 2010 - St. Michael's Abbey
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From the Hilltop<br />
News from <strong>St</strong>. Michael’s <strong>Abbey</strong> • www.<strong>St</strong>Michaels<strong>Abbey</strong>.com<br />
The following is the homily preached by Abbot Eugene J. Hayes<br />
at the Midnight Mass of Christmas in the <strong>Abbey</strong> church.<br />
“T<br />
here has come from a virginal womb the one who is God and man, light and life, Him<br />
who is the very creator of the world.” Throughout the Church’s liturgy yesterday and<br />
into this night, this new day which is Christmas itself, indeed right up until this Mass,<br />
one finds a repeated admonition and exhortation: to be awake from, to be awakened to. Yesterday,<br />
early on Christmas Eve, during morning prayer here at the <strong>Abbey</strong> at about 6:00 AM, we heard the<br />
cry of the prophet Isaiah: “Awake, awake! To your feet, Jerusalem!” Then shortly thereafter, we heard<br />
words from <strong>St</strong>. Augustine, from a sermon on the Nativity of the Lord: “Awake, mankind! For your<br />
sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten<br />
you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became man.” Then again this night one hour ago once more<br />
words of the prophet plaintively chanted in this abbey church: “Awake, Awake put on your strength O<br />
Sion… all the day my name is constantly reviled … therefore on that day my people shall know my renown…<br />
Here I am.” Here I am – this is the message of this Christmas night. From darkness, not only of night,<br />
but darkness of gloom, the message comes loudly and clearly that something is happening, something<br />
wonderful, and therefore we are to be awakened: awakened from sadness and resignation, from lethargy<br />
and malaise, from despair and disappointment. We are to awaken to something, a reality ever-new and<br />
transforming, and a reality which touches everyone whether they realize it or not.<br />
Almost four weeks ago, in the opening days of Advent, the period of preparation for this night, we<br />
heard, as we do so each year, we heard explained the significance of an annual celebration of the events<br />
which touch our hearts. “Each year, as the Church recalls this mystery, she urges us to renew the<br />
Photo: R. Belcher<br />
memory of the great love God has shown us. This holy season teaches us that Christ’s coming was not only for the benefit of his contemporaries; his power<br />
has still to be communicated to us all. We shall share his power, if, through holy faith and the sacraments, we willingly accept the grace Christ earned for<br />
us, and live by that grace and in obedience to Christ. (<strong>St</strong>. Charles Borromeo)”<br />
IN MEMORIAM<br />
The grace of this night and this season (and it is a season, a season of several weeks even though<br />
the Christmas songs have stopped playing on the radio and decorations disappear from the malls)<br />
is not something of the past, not something of long ago, not something of personal childhood<br />
memories which can both console and wrench the heart, this is about tonight, here and now, for<br />
the grace of God is appearing. We, all of us, are contemporaries of the Christmas mystery and<br />
invitees to share in the power which is Christ’s now in this year, the year of the Lord, 2009. For<br />
while the world’s great ones preside, and wars rage and economies falter, the angel of the Lord<br />
appears once more, the bearer of God’s word announces: “Do not be afraid, for behold I proclaim<br />
to you, right here and right now good news of great joy for all people.”<br />
Where do we find ourselves in the new Christmas story being woven and told and lived this<br />
evening? Are we among the shepherds vigilant in their fields or among the wise seeking advice<br />
of others as to how to arrive while others, the courtiers and rulers, fear what this night means for<br />
those who are powerful in the world’s eyes? Maybe some of us feel more attuned to the message<br />
and song of the angels themselves, taking part with them in announcing good news. In every<br />
case the story is new and renewing, for this night: “There has come from a virginal womb the<br />
one who is God and man, light and life, Him who is the very creator of the world.”<br />
S<br />
Rt. Rev. Ladislas Parker, O.Praem.<br />
(1915-<strong>2010</strong>)<br />
As this newsletter was going to press, our founding abbot, Ladislas Parker,<br />
went to his eternal reward. We will cover his life in detail in the next issue<br />
of the <strong>St</strong>. Michael’s Messenger.