A Christmas Sermon

Fr. Mike Paraniuk
HCP columnist

It was a cold, snowy, wintery night before Christmas when I walked up the stairs to the radio shack at St. Fidelis College. I was a ham radio operator (WA3LDA) checking into the 7 p.m. meeting of the Western Pennsylvania Network. 

The WPA Net was a group of dedicated radio operators who received and delivered messages sent by Morse code long before Steve Jobs invented the iPhone. Long-distance phone calls were rarely made due to the high cost. 

It was 1969, and our soldiers were fighting in Vietnam. A high-priority message was received by one of our ham operators to be delivered to a family living in Herman, Pennsylvania. That was the exact place where I lived at St. Fidelis. With pen and paper in hand, I told the operator to send it. 

The band condition was very poor that night. His signal was drifting in and out. I was only getting bits and pieces of the message. That's when W3KUN came to the rescue. He relayed the message to me with his blow-torch 1,000-watt transmitter. 

I remember that message to this day. "Dad, I'm alive. I'm OK. Don't you and Mom worry. I'm coming home soon. Please tell Mom to make her raisin bread that I like so much with melted butter. Love...Bob."

I was sent a phone number to call the father. He asked who I was. I told him I am Mike, a ham radio operator at St. Fidelis with an important message from his son. I gave him the message. There was total silence from the father, but I could hear sniffles. I think he was crying. With a quivering voice, he thanked me before hanging up.

The next night I happened to be passing by the tall front doors of the college. Through the snow, I could see a man walking up to the door. I wondered who this might be coming out on such a blistery night. I opened the door inviting him inside. 

"Can I help you?" I asked.

He replied, "I'm looking for Mike, the ham radio guy." 

I said, "That's me." 

He looked to be in his mid-60s. With deepest emotions, he began to cry as he grasped my hand with his weather-worn hands. 

He spoke. "I am Bob Senior. I own a farm here in Herman. My son is a soldier in Vietnam. Mom and I hadn't heard from him in months, fearing the worst. We didn't know if he was alive or dead. We prayed every night for his safe return to us. I believe God heard our prayers when you gave me that message from Bob Junior. I brought you a present."

Bob Sr. handed me a basket covered with a hand towel. I lifted it up to find a big loaf of raisin bread. He said, "When you eat this, remember the joy you brought to a worried mom and dad. Merry Christmas." 

I find it interesting that Jesus was laid in a manger. The word "manger" comes from the Latin word "munducare," which means "to eat." The first resting place of Jesus doubled as a feeding trough for hungry cattle. The manger overflowed with fodder to make sure the cattle would never go hungry. 

Jesus is the Bread from Heaven that satisfies the hunger of every human heart. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means "House of Bread."

Jesus compared Himself to Bread. 

"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35.) 

The manger is a sign that Jesus wants to feed anyone who hungers from loneliness, worry or fear. Jesus loves you so much that He will overflow to those areas of your life that need to be fed. He will feed you with gifts that only He can give. As the food you eat nourishes every cell in your body, Jesus will nourish you with the choicest blessings of peace from Heaven. 

God says in Psalm 81:10, "Open wide your mouth and I will fill it!." (We foodies love that Bible verse!)

Christmas is not just a celebration of what Jesus has done for you. It is a challenge to you from God to feed others who hunger. At Children's Hospital, there are 20,000 good people who dedicate their lives to feed families with healing and hope as they struggle to wipe every tear from their children's eyes.  

"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.'” (Matthew 26:26.) May every Holy Communion remind you to do what Jesus did. He changed tears of pain to tears of joy. 

Go and do the same. Merry Christmas.