(Christmas
2018: This homily was given on December 25, 2018 at St. Pius X Church,
Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.
Read Isaiah 9:1-6; Psalm 96:1-13; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Christmas 2018]
Bishop
Fulton Sheen once wrote the following: “When finally the scrolls of history are
completed down to the last word of time, the saddest line of all will be,
‘There was no room in the inn.’”
There
was no room in the inn.
We
don’t know who the innkeeper was on that first Christmas Eve in Bethlehem some
2,000+ years ago. The Bible doesn’t tell
us. He will remain forever nameless.
But
Bishop Sheen was right in what he implied about this man. The innkeeper of Bethlehem really is one of
the most tragic figures in human history—not because he did anything openly
malicious or hateful or devious, but simply because he missed out on a
tremendous opportunity. He turned away
the Son of God, and so he missed out on the chance to have his life changed
forever. He missed out on the
opportunity to discover who God really is, and the power of God’s love. He missed out on the opportunity to discover
the meaning and purpose of life. He
missed out on the opportunity to experience a joy and peace that no amount of
money can buy.
He
missed out on all that—and a lot more!—because in effect he said to Jesus, “I’m
sorry, but there’s no room for you tonight in my inn.”
Now
I’m sure this innkeeper had his reasons for responding to Jesus, Mary and
Joseph as he did. Maybe he was just too
busy. The Bible makes it clear that
business was quite good that December night in Bethlehem. Lots and lots of people were pouring into the
town for the census Caesar Augustus had ordered. Maybe he just figured he didn’t have time to
be bothered with this pregnant woman and her husband. After all, he probably already had a pretty
hectic schedule: beds to make, food to prepare, linens to wash, people to get
settled in their rooms. In his mind it might
have required too much effort to take care of these ragged looking strangers
from Nazareth who were standing in his doorway.
Or
perhaps he was overly concerned with what he was going to get out of it
financially—and even more importantly what he might not get out of it financially.
Joseph and Mary, after all, were definitely not the King and Queen of
Sheba! They were poor people—the
Scriptures make that fact crystal clear.
I’m sure the innkeeper realized that the first moment he laid eyes on
them. So he knew they definitely were
not going to be big tippers! And he
might even have wondered about their honesty—about whether or not they would
pay their bill once their stay was over.
Or
maybe it was just a case of fear—deep fear.
Remember, in front of his eyes this innkeeper saw a woman about to give
birth to a child. Babies, as you parents
know all too well, tend to be noisy—especially when they’re hungry. And newborn infants tend to be hungry a lot!
Perhaps
this innkeeper was afraid that this baby would disturb his other guests, which of
course would have been bad for his business—especially his future business.
Now
you might say, “Well, this all very nice, Fr. Ray, but what does all of this
have to do with me and my life in 2018?”
The
answer is, “Quite a lot!” You see,
whether we’re aware of it or not, each and every one of us is, in a certain
sense, an “innkeeper.” And in our lives
we constantly face the same decision that the innkeeper of Bethlehem faced on
that first Christmas Eve. Inside of us
we have a kind of “inn,” and that inn is called a soul. Jesus Christ, our Lord
and Savior, desires very much to come into our “inns” and to do for us what he
wanted to do for the innkeeper of Bethlehem: he wants to change our lives; he
wants to help us know and experience God and his love as we never have before;
he wants to help us discover the meaning and purpose of life; he wants to give
us a joy and a peace that is beyond all human understanding.
But
the thing is, we have to let him in! And
that’s where we can so often fail—because we’re sinners. So very often we can say (especially by our
actions), “Sorry, Jesus, but there’s no room for you today in my inn.” Those of you who are Catholic, for example,
say this to the Lord every Sunday and holy day that you fail to attend
Mass! And isn’t it interesting, the
excuses people tend to use for missing Mass are the very same ones that the
innkeeper of Bethlehem might have used on the first Christmas Eve: “I don’t
have time”; “I’m too busy”; “I have a hectic schedule”; “I have too many other
things to do”.
But
even those of us who are faithful to Mass are guilty of turning Jesus away from
our “inns”. That happens whenever we
give in to fear and sin. Earlier I said
that the innkeeper of Bethlehem might have turned Jesus away because he was
afraid. He was afraid that our Lord
would drive all his other guests out. Well,
that same kind of fear can very easily come into our hearts, even if we already
have some level of commitment to the Lord.
You see, there are certain guests (besides Jesus) that are always trying
to take up residence within us: guests like hatred, lust, anger, greed,
selfishness, bitterness and pride. When
Jesus begins to come in, those other guests have to begin to pack their bags and
get out.
Now
that’s a good thing, but it’s a good thing that can actually fill us with fear,
because the truth is that deep down inside we might like some of those other
guests! There are moments when we may
enjoy being selfish or greedy or lustful or prideful. And so we might be afraid that if we let
Jesus in, we’ll have to give up too much, or we’ll lose some of our friends, or
we won’t have fun anymore.
In
short, we might be afraid that Jesus will come into our “inn” and change us too
much!
The
Lord says to each and every one of us on this Christmas Day, “Do not be
afraid. I love you. I know what’s best for you. Let me do for you what I could not do for the
innkeeper of Bethlehem. Let me give you
a new peace, a new joy, a new direction in your life. I came to this earth so that you might have
the fullness of life. Open up your heart
to me today and begin to receive it.”
