Silence.
Four thousand people and not a word.
Silence and dim lighting.
The faintness of the lights and the impatience of expectation are so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Suddenly a voice is heard: Gloria in excelsis Deo! Pope Benedict XVI’s voice chants out and the lights flash on; in a rush of emotion the choir and assembly belt out the Gloria which hasn’t been heard since Advent started. The time of waiting and expectation are over and St. Peter’s Basilica, along with the entire world, sings with joy for the long-awaited Christ-child who is born anew in our hearts. That little bundle of joy that was born over 2,000 years ago in a little town of Bethlehem has brought again the joy of a life lived for a purpose: to reveal the face of God in all the small and great, troubled and peaceful, depressing and joyful moments of our lives that are filled with contradictions. To bring us hope that is found on the edge of despair and life when death is most daunting.
This was my experience of the Midnight Christmas Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica the other day. After waiting in a long line of pilgrims from many countries, I found a very nice seat about 15 rows behind the seats for the bishops and cardinals. It was a beautiful two and a half hour Mass, and afterwards I realized that I hadn’t been in the Vatican since I first arrived in Rome six months ago. Too long! After the moving ceremony I walked outside to find that the buses had stopped running so I set off on foot and finally arrived home 45 minutes later. A long walk but well worth the effort. The next morning, Christmas Day, I went again to the Vatican with a couple of friends to receive the Pope’s solemn Christmas blessing: Urbe et Orbe. It had been raining on and off all morning but as soon as the Pope came out the rain stopped and the sky brightened a bit. Strangely, after his 30 minute blessing the rain started again. Coincidence? Who knows!
