You know, I really like the Christmas season. I like the lights and the trees and the hymns. I like the crowd. Most pastors like a big crowd in church. Did you know that? That may come as a surprise. I even like the Christmas jokes. I'll give you a couple of favorites and even these, I would laugh at, even these...

Do you know why Santa Clause always has three gardens?.... So he can go "Ho Ho Ho." Do you know tonight, Christmas eve, Mrs. Santa Claus said to him, "What's the weather forecast?" And his answer was, "Rain, Dear." ....I like all of it!

But the fact is this is a very difficult Christmas. Now, it may come as a surprise to some of us, but for some folks, it's often a difficult Christmas. If they are lonely, Christmas just makes them feel more lonely. If there's friction and resentment and trouble in their family, getting together for family dinners just fuels the problem. It does not heal it. And then we have families that have a sickness at Christmas time, and that's hard. Or families, and we have a number in the parish, who have had deaths recently, and that makes it hard. But this year is different.

This year, I think it is hard for all of us, for our society, for our country, and for our world. It goes back to September 11th and the World Trade Center, and a big sense of loss. I mean there is a sense of loss because many have lost relatives and friends, or almost everybody knows somebody who lost a friend or relative. But more than that, there is a loss of a sense of security and a loss of a sense of serenity that we thought we had. You know, it may be anthrax, or it may be exploding shoes, or it may be heightened security, or it may be long lines at the airport, but something is lost there. And it happens in this season that is supposed to reaffirm and celebrate hope and love and peace, and we end up saying, "Where is the hope? ...and the love? ...and the peace?"

That first reading talked about how the "boot that is trampled in battle" and the "clothes that are red with blood" are going to be thrown into the furnace, and we're not going to have that problem any more. Well, I've got to tell you there are a lot of boots tramping in battle right now. And there are a lot of clothes red with blood, both at ground zero and in the caves of Tora Bora, and in little villages in Afghanistan. And that's supposed to be the promise that we get. Our world is really torn up right now by terrible acts of hatred and by our response, violent though necessary, but our very strong and violent response to that kind of hatred.

And here we are celebrating the dream, the vision, the promise of our God that we find in Jesus. You know, it is interesting, Jesus came, we think on an evening (But who knows?) like this, 2000 years ago in the same kind of world. The community that He was born into was an occupied territory with brutal oppression and lots of acts of terrorism and brutal response to the terrorism. It's the kind of world He was born into.

You know, when He got a little older, He gathered His friends around Him, His disciples, His apostles, His heroes. Who were they? One was a traitor, Matthew. He really worked for the Romans. He went over to the other side. What traitors have we heard of lately?.... And the other was Simon the Zealot, which means he was a terrorist. What terrorists have we heard of lately?... He had a couple of close friends; they were called "Sons of Thunder." I don't think it was because they were gentle, non-violent, passive, the "Sons of Thunder." He was born into exactly the kind of world that we live in. And here we are, 2000 years later, still celebrating His birth and Who Jesus is because, and I think it's because of His death and resurrection, we know our God will not give up on us.

The Christmas scene shows us the Infant in the manger, which is a great sign and revelation and window into exactly how our God deals with us. Our God is gentle. Our God invites us. Our God whispers to us. Our God comes like a little infant. And what are we like? We resist. There is no room in the inn. And our God says, "It doesn't matter. I'm coming anyway." Our God will not give up on us.

Another great sign is the cross and crucifixion. Jesus is crucified on our behalf, and our God says, "I still won't give up on you."Another great sign is the tomb, death and the tomb. And our God says, "I still won't give up on you." And another sign is the terror that we live with. And yet, our God, the God of the Universe, as close as our own hearts, is gently whispering and persuading and inviting us to be a people who overcome that, who give us a dream, a vision, and a hope, and says, "I won't quit. Don't you quit either."

Where is the dream, the vision, and the hope today? Well, I'll tell you where it is first of all. I am reminded of a pastor who, not long ago, started a big building fund. And he got up before the congregation, and he said, "You know, it's going to be very expensive. We're going to need a lot of money. But I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is we have the money to build the church... no problem. The bad news is that it is in your pockets."

Well, our God kind of says that to us. The dream, the vision, the hope for peace and for making a difference in our world and bringing values and wisdom to our world is in our hands. That's the first thing our God says. We see it in a brother human being, Jesus Christ. We don't see it in an angel. We don't see it in a vision. We don't see it in a miracle. We see it in another human being. Our God comes to us as one of us, and then says, "You come along too.... You come along too."

And here's the second place I think we see it, because I think we do come along. You may have noticed it in the little letter that I had in the handout as you came in. This last year, with the outreach to people who were victims in the World Trade Center, the outreach to homeless and suffering people in our Bay Area, has been enormous here in this parish and in the parishes on either side of us, and in the parishes across our country, and in 20,000 Catholic parishes, and in the Protestant congregations around our country, and in the Jewish temples and synagogues in our country and in the mosques in our country, and at the hands of people who have faith and people who have no faith at all. And that's not highlighted, and it doesn't get the press and the media that terror does. But that is going on. Our God is at work at our hands, in our pockets. We are sharing the hope, the dream and the vision. And it is happening. It's happening not alone, but we are doing it together. And finally, we do it with our God, our God Who does not quit on us, Who does not leave us alone, Who will not back off, Who will not go away, Who will not give up.

This is very much a season of hope, hope because individually we can make a difference, a hope because as communities, I have to say, of faith and of non-faith around the world, good people are making a difference. And finally, our God, as close as our own hearts, is walking with us and not giving up on us, inviting us in a gentle way, to justice and peace and hope and love. And that's good news, good season. Feel good about it! Merry Christmas!