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Sts. Joseph & Paul Catholic Church |
Homily Archives | |
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Fourth Sunday of
Advent - Cycle A
During these days of Advent, we have heard many voices from the Scriptures call out, encouraging us to make room for Jesus in our lives. We heard the voice of the Prophet Isaiah call us to bring peace to our land by “beating our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks.” We heard the voice of John the Baptist call us “to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight his path.” We heard the voice of Mary call us to say “yes” to God, as she did by saying, “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”
But there is one voice we did not hear,
and this voice is not heard in all of the
Scriptures, although this voice is the lynch pin to the story of the birth
of Jesus. If not for this voice, Jesus would not have been born in a
humble stable; instead, he would have been born in Bethlehem’s equivalent
of a Holiday Inn.
This voice is that of the innkeeper. The innkeeper is alleged to have refused room for Joseph and Mary in the inn, forcing them to take shelter in a stable. All Luke says in his Infancy Narrative is that “there was no room for them in the inn.” But every movie and every Christmas pageant includes the innkeeper, and usually his wife, behind the counter taking care of the travelers. Often, the innkeeper is cast as a gruff old man, who cannot be bothered by a poor carpenter from the countryside and his pregnant wife. Sometimes he is cast as the busy host, overcome with the details and demands of running a hotel in the busy season. And every once in awhile, we have seen him as a compassionate soul, who sympathizes with the two poor travelers and offers them all the hospitality that he can in the stable that he uses for his animals. The innkeeper never realizes who he turns away. He does not comprehend just who is in his midst. To him, it was just a busy time, and he had guests to accommodate. “Nothing personal folks; just business, and I have no room for you in the inn.” The innkeeper is not mentioned, but we should not criticize him. I say this because, as Christians, we are all innkeepers when it comes to making room for Jesus in our lives. These days of Christmas are busy days. There is a lot to be done. There is food to prepare, traveling to do, and gifts to wrap; our lives can fill so quickly with Christmas. With all we must do, we can easily find ourselves saying the same thing the Innkeeper said, “nothing personal folks; it’s just business. I have no room for you in my Inn.” Mary was the ultimate innkeeper. Even in her fear and lack of understanding of how she could be with child, she said “yes” to God and made room for Jesus, the Emmanuel, in her life. May we embrace her profound spirit of service and humility, and make room for Jesus in our lives this Christmas and every day. I know it’s not Christmas yet, but I’ll close with a line from a Christmas song that we will soon sing, “Let every heart prepare Him room,” and in just a day’s time, we will finish the song.
sdrose@bellsouth.net |
