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The true meaning of Christmas, said Cardinal Dolan during Midnight Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, is that “God is right smack dab in the middle of things.”
It’s easier to feel the presence of God when things are going right in our lives, said Cardinal Dolan. When things are not going so well, we are called to remember, “God is in our midst,” he said.
That was made clear to those gathered at the cathedral for the Mass as they saw the cardinal place a figure of the baby Jesus in the Nativity setting after the processional hymn, “O’ Come All Ye Faithful,” was sung. The cardinal then blessed the crèche.
As the cardinal delivered his homily, his words filled the newly restored cathedral—a three-year project finished in time for Pope Francis’ visit to New York in September.
The cathedral was finely decorated for the beginning of the festive Christmas season with large evergreen wreaths donned with velvet red bows on each of the columns, and red poinsettia plants on the floor and steps leading to the altar.
During his homily, the cardinal welcomed two refugee families, one from El Salvador and one from the Ivory Coast, and highlighted the similarities between the refugee families and Jesus’ family. Like Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the two families had to leave their homeland and find a new place of shelter.
Without revealing the identities of the families, the cardinal described their plights. Two teenage brothers, 17 and 19, left El Salvador and came to the United States last year to escape gang violence and persecution that included robberies and death threats. They joined their two older brothers. A Muslim family, comprised of a husband and wife and three children from the Ivory Coast, were reunited in 2012 after the father was granted asylum in the United States in 2010 to escape death squads targeting political dissidents.
Archdiocesan Catholic Charities assisted both families.
“One of the greatest temptations in life is to think God is far away,” the cardinal said.
That is never the case, the cardinal said. The cardinal told personal stories to showcase what he meant. When he accompanied Pope Francis down Fifth Avenue in the popemobile on the way to St. Patrick’s, he said the Holy Father expressed surprise when the car stopped suddenly, still surrounded by large crowds and many businesses. The cardinal recalled the pope saying, “But it’s right here in the middle of things.”
Cardinal Dolan explained to those gathered that cathedrals, in many countries, are built in a town square or plaza. The cardinal said the pope smiled and replied that the cathedral was right where it should be—in the middle of things—because that is where God is, too.
“God is with us,” said the cardinal, who wore robes of yellow, symbolizing the joy and happiness of Christmas.
Isabel Leonard, a mezzo-soprano from the New York Metropolitan Opera, sang the Christmas hymn “O’ Holy Night” during Communion.
After Communion, the congregation sang “Silent Night” in German, Spanish and English. Mass ended with the congregation singing the triumphant Christmas song, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!”
