God Breaks Through The Darkness

During Christmas Vigil, the manger was empty, the longest night was evident, and the people waited for God to come down. The celebrant, along with the altar servers, was processing in with songs of praise and incense rising to the rooftop. People were waiting for an answer to their darkness and difficult situations. The Word was being proclaimed as the people listen attentively; the Gospel was being chanted as the people listen attentively; the homily was preparing the people as the people listen attentively. Then, something extraordinary happen during the liturgy and God shined his light in the hearts of the people. 

The psalmist expressed the manifestation of God's glory in a beautiful image. He says, "In the morning you will see His Glory. The dawn from on high shall break upon us" (103:1). The soul praises God when he or she sees the Glory of God shining in his heart. After the homily, the celebrant calls the server to bring out that that was hidden before the beginning of time. The server has in his hand the infant Jesus, the Word made flesh. The people looked intently as the manger was empty and now is were once filled with God's presence among the people. 

The Prophet Isaiah once again tells the people in the liturgy to rise from their darkness and welcome once again the Word made flesh. He says, "Awake and put on the glorious garments--shake off the dust of the unclean and immorality”(Isaiah 51-52). Augustine too says, " Awake! For God became man. For how could there be peace on earth unless truth has arisen from the earth, that is, unless Christ were born of our flesh? And he is our peace who made two into one; that we might be men of good will, sweetly linked by the bond of unity."

The Word made it's dwelling when the people knelt before the infant Jesus. During the profession of faith, the people of God professed their faith and something extraordinary happen. The people along with the celebrant knelt from the opening until the part where it says, "And He came down from Heaven, and became man." This pivot moment became the experience for each individual to awake from their sleep, arise from their darkness, and allow the King of Kings to dwell in their hearts once again. This very moment prepared the heart of the person to allow Christ to come into their hearts with the final moment in the Eucharist. God, who was present in the Eucharist in a very humble way, enters the heart of the person and reveals his hidden Glory and presence to the person.