The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) Mass during the Night

Welcome to St. Bernard Catholic Church in Glassell Park, Calif., and our virtual celebration of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) Mass during the Night, originally recorded on Dec. 24, 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was raging. In Luke's Gospel we are told: "So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger." This was what the prophets had foretold. This was the fulfillment long awaited — the coming and now arrival of the Messiah. Light, now, had broken through the darkness, and sin had no chance of reigning since the Prince of Peace now would break those bonds of darkness and sin. We gaze at the manger. What do we see? Do we understand the radical change that came upon us in Bethlehem? Do we comprehend that God continues to give to us light and peace and hope and grace? What do we see? What do we receive? How are we changed by this Prince of Peace?