No Room In The Inn

I thought I would share my thoughts about Christmas by posting the Homily I delivered on Christmas Morning at Church...Merry Christmas Everyone!!


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Throughout my life Christmas has always been a very special time of the year for me, largely because this Season brings back some of the happiest memories of my life. Those memories come not as much from my early childhood, but more from my teenage years.

When I was a teen I was very actively involved in my Church Youth Group. One of the biggest tasks that came along with membership in this group was the arduous task of decorating the Church for Christmas. Now you have to understand, the pastor of my home Parish growing up, Father Bert Richman, didn't believe that a few Trees, and a Manger was sufficient to celebrate the Season. In fact, our Church was known in the area as “The LaSalette of the East”. Every building was outlined in lights, every bush, tree, and handrail was illuminated. The inside of the Church was another story all together.

It was however while stapling Christmas Lights to the roof of the Church that I really began to come to understand God’s call in my heart to serve Him as a Priest.

You see at school I wasn't terribly popular; I wasn't good at sports, I struggled with academics, I was “average” looking at best, and I was super involved at Church. My best friend growing up however was the exact opposite. He was good at every sport, he got straight A’s in every class, every girl in school was in love with him (and I suspect some of the boys too), he was that kid who everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. What we held in common however was the youth group, and it was while kneeling in the snow stapling down those lights on the roof year after year, that we became the very best of friends. As a result of this, my understanding of the Church growing up, was that there were no outsiders, everyone was “a cool kid”, everyone had a place…and I wanted to provide that experience for every other kid out there who was just like me.

How appropriate that this incident happened while we were decorating for and celebrating the Solemnity of Christmas, because that’s what Christmas is all about. Jesus Christ- the eternal God, the Creator of the Universe – took human flesh, and came to live among us as a man. He left the glory of Heaven, and the King and Creator subjected Himself to His own creation; the parents that He had to obey, the animals that would now be a source of food, transportation, and clothing…indeed even the very sky beneath which He was born – were all the products of His creating word- yet now as a baby, He could not even speak. In fact so much was He now at the mercy of the world, that He was pushed into a dark, cold, stable upon His coming…because that creation of His told Him there was no room for Him in the Inn.

For Christ this was the beginning of a lifetime of being told there was no room for Him. When He grew older, this Son of God Himself would find there was no room for Him in the Organized Religion of His time. This King of Kings would find there was no room for Him in Politics either. As He went about His mission on Earth preaching, He would be driven out of well more than one place, because there was no room for His words of love, forgiveness, and peace.

When the Angels told the Shepherds the glorious news of Christmas, they said; “I bring you news of great joy, and it shall be for all the people.” … ALL the people...You see, you and I are the pieces of this manger for which there are no statues. Look at our beautiful Manger Scene; there are Shepherds; who were women and men who lived as nomads, and were the poorest of the poor. There are Kings, who came from the East, robed in resplendent garb, riding camels, with servants to tend to their needs, and bearing expensive gifts. There was a poor couple, who would provide for this child through manual labor, and whose love had been the topic of gossip and ridicule, because the society in which they lived did not understand their relationship. There may have been no room for Jesus in the Inn, but in His Stable it would seem there was room for every walk of life. He Himself came to be an Inn; a place of lodging, rest, and nourishment, for every weary traveler on the road;

for everyone who the world rejects and doesn't understand,

for the poor who have the hearts of nomads,

for the rich who want for nothing yet can’t find happiness,

for the family who labors only to make ends meet,

for you and I when we fit in any one of those categories on any given day…

There is room for anyone in the Stable…more than that, there is a place for everyone in the Stable.

I know that the people of our Parish believe very strongly in the values of that Stable. I know it because you welcome every single person who walks through that door with open arms. I know it because I know how you value our belief that “All Are Welcome”- gay or straight, rich or poor, happy or sad, married, divorced, single, or confused; All Are Welcome.

I know that you believe so strongly in the values of that Stable because on Sunday night I had the powerful and humbling experience of driving a pickup truck, with its entire bed chock full of the presents that you so generously gave to change the life of a family right here in Rhode Island. You provided for those children so much more then packages to open on Christmas morning; you gave them a place in the Stable. For the first time in their lives, when the kids are talking about what they got for Christmas they won’t feel left out of the conversation. For the first time in their lives, when they watch a television show or a movie about Christmas they won’t roll their eyes and think that it’s a bunch of nonsense, because they have been able to experience it for themselves. Thanks to you, Christmas has room for them this year.

You have sent Christmas Cards to the imprisoned.

You have given food to the hungry.

You have given clothes to the poor.

You have done everything in your power, to ensure that no one find themselves pushed out, and you do it – we do it – because we know that what’s in the Inn doesn't matter, but rather it’s what’s in the Stable that counts. May each and every one of us find our place in the Manger; weather you gaze in prayerful awe like Mary and Joseph, or kneel and feel as though you have nothing to offer like the shepherd…weather you stand with confidence and pride like a King, or look upon this scene with confusion like one of the animals... Let us gather around this newborn Christ Child, and take your place, that has been prepared for you…and may we join with the Angels in singing their song;

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, to those with whom His favor rests.”

We Need A Little Christmas

My Homily from this morning, the Fourth Sunday of Advent...

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In 1956, a new Broadway Show called Mame took the stage. It was set in New York City, and told the story of an eccentric woman named Mame Dennis. Mame was extremely wealthy and lived a fabulous metropolitan lifestyle in the Big Apple, until it is interrupted by the arrival of Patrick, her orphaned nephew. The show takes place across the span of the Great Depression, and World War II. When Mame looses all of her fortune in the Stock Market Crash of 1929, she decides that she, Patrick, and her two household servants need a little Christmas Cheer, and in the 1966 production of the show, Angela Lansbury performed the song “We Need a Little Christmas” for the very first time.

The song speaks of all the charming nuances that make Christmas so endearing- the holly, the trees, the stockings, the fruitcake, and the candles in the window. Toward the middle of the song we find the verse;

“For I've grown a little leaner,
Grown a little colder,
Grown a little sadder,
Grown a little older
We need a little Christmas now.”

I don’t know about all of you, but I can sure relate to that song as I stand here today.
I think we all need a little Christmas.


As winter draws deeper and deeper, the temperature drops further and further, and the days get shorter and shorter…We look at our day to day lives around us, and we find the stress and headaches of challenges we wish we could defeat. Aggravation, bills, car payments, and the list goes on…and we grow a little colder…

We put on the news and all we can find is reminder after reminder of the horrifying tragedy that befell the town of Newton Connecticut last Friday…we hear about house fires, break ins, and local violence …and we grow a little sadder…

We look at the year that has passed us by, we look at the goals we set for ourselves in January. We look at the experiences of the last 12 months –both the good and the bad – and we realize that we have grown a little older…

We need a little Christmas.

We need a little Christmas because the joy and the love that comes on Christmas morning conquers all of these things. The Birth of Jesus brings hope to the world, because it’s the birth of our Salvation; a salvation for which the people of Israel had waited for centuries.

In this morning’s Gospel we heard the story of the Visitation. Mary- now carrying the Christ Child in her womb- travels several days out from Nazareth, to what Scripture calls the hill country, which is the city of Hebron. According to tradition, this ancient town rested over the remains of the founders of faith; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David were all buried in this region. As all the pieces of history come together in this momentous visit, Elizabeth knows that Mary is the mother of God, “Blessed are you among woman, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! Who am I that the mother of my Lord should visit me?” Centuries of Prophecy are on the cusp of coming to fulfillment.

Elizabeth had been raised in the Jewish Faith, and knew the Prophesies of their ancestors all too well. She knew of the Messiah that had been promised since Eden. The wife of a temple Priest, her faith was at the very core of her life. She was an older woman, thought by her community to be barren, a state in life that was shrouded in shame. With each passing day this woman grew a little older, grew a little sadder, grew a little colder.

Now here were all those answers, right there at her door. Here was the climax, the completion of her lifelong Advent, and the woman who was to bear it was her own cousin, Mary.  It says that the unborn John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth’s womb for joy! It’s a moment when all those are “in the know” are united in a moment of joy beyond all telling.

They needed a little Christmas…they needed it right this very minute! Having waited for centuries as a nation, and all their lives as people, the time for waiting and preparing was over. The prophecies were about to be fulfilled, and every single one of them knew it. Now here we stand…we stand with Elizabeth and Mary in that doorway, and like Elizabeth the child within us jumps for joy…the child that in fact is us, the us from before life got colder, sadder, and older.

The anticipation and joy is everywhere...you can feel it in the air. One may think while in the mall that it's something entirely commercial, but that's not true...because deep down inside, no matter what is at the fore front of people's mind, no matter what we call the tree at City Hall, and no matter how many things have been bought, wrapped, or returned; The entirety of creation is on the brink of something marvelous...something so marvelous it will disturb the peace of heaven itself on a silent Bethlehem night.

So indeed, as the song says, let’s haul out the holly, put up the tree, and fill up the stockings – not because any of those things make Christmas, but because we are celebrating; celebrating that the wait is finally over! May that child within each and every one of us leap for joy – because prophecy is about to become fulfillment…