Tag: Christmas

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A Knock at Midnight – Christmas, Midnight Homily

blog.12.24In this reflection, perhaps we can consider but one line in the Gospel which both challenges our love, and is a sign of God’s humble and abiding love for us: For there was no room for them in the Inn.

I. The Cold – There is a knock at midnight. Joseph, speaking on behalf of both Mary and Jesus (who is in her womb still), seeks entrance to the homes and lodgings of those in Bethlehem. And even though the Jewish people placed a great deal of emphasis on the duty of hospitality to strangers, the answer repeatedly given is that there is “No room here.” Mary’s obviously advanced pregnancy seems to make little difference.

This was indeed a cold night, not so much in terms of the air temperature, but in terms of the hearts of the people. Even at the local inn (and surely someone could make room for a pregnant woman!), there was “No room.”

Yes, it was a cold night! The only warmth would be found among the animals of that town. An old Latin antiphon for Christmas says, O magnum mysterium et admirabile sacramentum, un animalia viderent Dominum natum iacentem in praesepio. (O great mystery and stunning sacrament, that animals would see the newborn Lord lying in a feedbox. Here, warmth will be found: among the animals. It is sometimes said that man can be brutish. But the reality is that we can sink even lower than the beasts, doing things to ourselves and one other that even animals do not.

Scripture says,

The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know me, my people do not understand….They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him (Isaiah 1:3-4).

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (John 1:10-11).

There was a knock at midnight; the animals received Him and gave warmth. His own people, knowing Him not, received Him not. And into this midnight darkness and cold, the light and warmth of God’s love will shine forth. The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone (Is 9:1).

II. The Condescension – Surely God must stoop low to come down from lightsome Heaven to our war-torn, dark, cold world. And He stoops to the lowest place, to be born not in a palace or even a comfortable home, but a manger. For God will defeat Satan’s pride with humility. And all who will find Him this fateful night must also stoop.

This stooping by God is illustrated even in the very topography of this night. The towns of the Holy Land were built on the tops of the tall hills (something almost never done here in America). This was done so as to leave the fertile valleys open for agriculture. Bethlehem was perched on the higher land and the shepherd’s fields lay below. The streets of Bethlehem were steep and built on tiers or levels. Thus, the back lot of many homes and buildings dropped steeply down and beneath the buildings. And then beneath the buildings they hollowed out caves where animals and tools were kept.

It was there, down underneath, where Joseph and Mary sought hasty shelter. For it was a cold and dark midnight and Mary’s time had come. God stooped with them to be born, among the animals and agricultural implements, in the damp cave underneath some house or inn.

Those who will find our God, they too must stoop low. Even to this day, when one visits Bethlehem to see the place of Jesus’ birth, one must first enter the Church through what is called the “Door of Humility.” For security reasons, this door was built to be only about four feet high. So one must stoop greatly to enter the church. Yes, we must stoop to find our God. The actual site of the birth is at the other end of the basilica, under the altar area. Here again, more stooping is required. One must descend a steep staircase and go through another low, narrow door and into the cave. To touch the very spot, one must kneel and reach forward, into a yet-narrower part of the cave. Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, says the inscription. And the only way to get there is to stoop.

Yes, our God stoops. He stoops to the lowest place. And to find Him and be with Him we, too, must be willing to stoop. God hates pride; He just can’t stand it. He sees what it does to us. He comes to break its back, not by overpowering it, or with clubs and swords, but with humility. Darkness does not defeat darkness; only light can do that. Hate does not defeat hate; only love can do that. Pride does not defeat pride; only humility can do that. And so God stoops.

Tonight God calls us with this same humility. He could have ridden down from Heaven on a lightning bolt and stunned us into fearful submission. Instead, He goes to the lowest place. He comes quietly, peacefully, without threat—as an infant. But even in this lowly way, He is still calling.

And so there is a knock at midnight. Scripture says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me (Rev 3:20). There is an old song with the following lyrics: “Somebody’s knocking at your door! Oh, Sinner, why don’t you answer?”

And this leads us to the final point.

III. The Crucial thing – When human history is complete and the last books are written, one of the saddest lines in all of that history will be simply the line, For there was no room for them in the Inn. No room … no room. How strange and sad for this world that God simply doesn’t fit! He doesn’t fit with our agendas, into our schedules, or among our priorities. There’s no room. He just doesn’t fit.

Scripture says,

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (Jn 1:11).

But that same passage goes on to add,

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the power to become children of God (John 1:12).

The most crucial decision in and factor of your life is whether or not there is room in your heart. Will you answer the knock at midnight? Some of you who are in this church tonight come only at Christmas. But throughout the rest of the year there is just no room for Jesus. There’s no time for Mass. There’s no time to fulfill the last thing He asked: Do this in memory of me. I beg you to reconsider and make room in your heart for Christ on His terms: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you have no life in you (Jn 6:53).

Yes, what about us? Is there room for Jesus in the “inn” of our hearts? If there is, then Jesus comes bearing many gifts. Tonight is a night of gifts. There is a knock at this very midnight. It sounds like Jesus! Oh, Sinner, why don’t you answer? Somebody’s knocking at your door.

Make room for Jesus. Every year He comes knocking. He stoops low and invites us to find Him in the lowly places of this world, in the lowly places of our own lives. What are the things in your life that may be crowding Him out? What obstacles and preoccupations leave little or no room for Jesus? What keeps you from recognizing Him and opening the door wide when He comes?

If you’ve already opened the door to Him for many years now, praise God! Then ask the Lord to help you open it wider. For it remains true for many of us that even though we’ve invited Jesus in, His accommodations are poor: perhaps the couch or floor of our life.

Make room for Jesus. Make more and more room for Him, in the “inn” of your soul. I promise you that what Scripture says is true: Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the power to become children of God (John 1:12).

If you will receive the gift of Him tonight and make greater room for Him in your heart, I promise you total victory and transformation in Christ Jesus. There will come to you the increasing gift of transformation into the very likeness of God. For tonight is a night of gifts and Jesus stoops low to give us a priceless gift: the power to become children of God.

It’s midnight. There’s a knock at the door. Oh, sinner, why don’t you answer?

Regarding this video … I know, I know. Yet still there is much to ponder.

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Is There Anyone You Know Who Might Have Been Forgotten This Christmas?

Volunteers at St. Matthew’s Cathedral serve a hot breakfast to guests at the Christmas breakfast on Dec 15.Christmas is a beautiful time of the year for most of us, most of the time. But it is also true that Christmas can be a very painful time of year for some, especially those who have experienced recent loss or who, for various reasons, have fewer family options at Christmas. Yes, Christmas can be the best of times or the loneliest of times, the most wonderful time of the year or the most painful.

The video below reminds us that Christmas can also be a time to reach out to others who have a hard time experiencing Christmas. Perhaps it is a relative or friend who has lost a spouse this past year and who will be alone for the first time this Christmas. Perhaps it is someone who is left out because his family is far away. Perhaps it is someone who is shy or even a little antisocial. But somewhere under all the grouchiness we see their pain and know that they need some attention at Christmas. I know that I have some sick parishioners who need a special visit this week.

Whatever the reason, there are always those who need to be included, those who for various reasons feel excluded.

In the video, a hare and a bear are fast friends. Unfortunately, the bear always misses Christmas because he is in hibernation. Something inside the hare tells him that Christmas will not be Christmas without his friend, and without his friend being able to experience the joy of Christmas. It occurs to the hare that there is a particular gift that would help his friend the bear to enjoy Christmas, even if only for a moment. And so he gives the gift, which you will see at the end of the video.

I leave it to you to watch the touching conclusion and to ask yourself who the bear is in your life.  Who is it that you need to reach out to in this season of Christmas? For me it was an old family friend that I had lost touch with this past year, and whose mind is beginning to fade with age. She had been good to my father in his dying process, and so I sought her out and we had a nice talk.

How about you? Who is that someone in your life who needs some special attention this Christmas? Christ will surely be pleased if you give the gift of love.

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I Hear Music in the Air! – A Homily for Christmas

122414The mysteries of Christmas are many. Among them is the mystery of the music heard that night. The angels shouted the great declaration, “Glory to God in the Highest,” and creation takes it up as a song. But why this music? Is it merely window dressing, or does it disclose a mystery to us? Is it merely for us, or do the angels also have need of the declaration?

As always with the things of God, there are realities far deeper than most of us imagine. But tonight’s Christmas feast weaves together, among many other mysteries, those of music and descent, and points up to music and ascent.

You see, over my head I hear music in the air. There must be a God somewhere. And the Lord descends to one song so that we might ascend to a new song in a new place: in the highest heavens. Let’s see how.

I. Divine Condescension – The text says, Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:8-12).

We look first to the divine descent of Jesus. Note that Jesus, who is called Savior, the Anointed One, and Lord, is said to be found wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a feed box, a trough from which animals are fed.

What sort of King and Lord is this? It is almost a divine comedy. Imagine the shepherds quaking in fear at the presence of an awesome angel. And then the angel tells them that they will find the Christ lying in a feed box, in a stable somewhere nearby. One can almost image one shepherd saying to another in a sort of whisper, “Did that angel say ‘feeding trough’?” And then the other nervous shepherd whispers back, “Yeah, that’s what he said.” It is comedic because it is so anti-climactic.

Indeed, there is a remarkable divine condescension here! The Lord did not merely descend from Heaven to earth. He descended to one of the lowest places on the earth, to a stinking cave, among animals, and has for His bed a feeding trough meant for animals.

And though Bethlehem was called the “City of David” it was hardly fit for a King. It was then, and is now, a run-down, dusty, ramshackle, poor town.

So here is the King of the Universe born, not in a stately palace, but in a stinking pen; not in a cozy cradle, but in a messy manger.

Yet God speaks eloquently in this poverty and condescension. Here is the Bread of Life, in a town called Bethlehem (House of Bread), lying in a feed trough. In His littleness and poverty He is approachable and calls to the poor.

But do not miss the radical nature of this descent! So radical was it, that this very thing is said in tradition to be the reason that one-third of the angels rebelled, turning against God and falling to the earth as demons (fallen angels). In both Jewish apocryphal writings as well as the writings of the Fathers of the Church, Lucifer, one of the highest ranking angels and among the seraphim, recoiled at the idea that God would choose to join Himself to His physical creation. Man was a mere mud doll to Lucifer, something and someone so far beneath him as to merit no real attention. The thought of God becoming flesh caused Lucifer to rebel, and he took a third of the angels with him in rebellion against so absurd a plan: God as mud doll, taking on human flesh and being joined to mere material creation. It was unbecoming, beneath the dignity of the spiritual world!

Condescension was unthinkable to Lucifer’s pride and he fell, refusing to accept such an absurd notion. Ever since that time, he and the fallen angels with him have envied the human person whom God was pleased to indwell, and by this envy have sought to destroy our truest dignity: an indwelling relationship with God.

Why this condescension? He condescends today to one song in order that we may ascend one day with Him to a new place and sing a new song. To what song does He descend and to what song will we ascend? Let’s read on.

II. Dancing Choirs –  The text says, And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

But the angels who did not fall had rejoiced in God’s plan and longed for its day! Thus on this day, as the Lord is manifest to the world, the highest angels who descended with Christ at the Annunciation now send word through and to the lower ranks of angels and a great heavenly throng makes the declaration, Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth Peace! The great hymn that is sung (or more literally, declared) is not just for the human family; according to the Fathers of the Church it is also a signal to the lower ranking angels from the higher ranking angels. All Heaven has revealed to it the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his holy ones (Col 1:26). A mystery, a wisdom which is hidden, which God ordained before the world, unto our glory (1 Cor 2:7). …The things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look (1 Peter 1:12).

Perhaps a little background will help understand the dance of the choirs and the communication that takes place.

The inner life of the Trinity, according to sacred tradition and the teaching of the Fathers, is not a mere static vision of the three persons for one another. The inner of the live of the Trinity is a movement of love. The Father loves the Son; the Son loves the Father; the Holy Spirit processes between them in this great movement which the Greek Fathers call the divine perichoresis, a kind of dance of love.

And the angels are arranged around God in ranks or choirs somewhat like concentric circles.  And they, too, take up the dance of love, passing love and revelation from God through each rank or choir and back again. Yes, here is the great dance, the perichoresis of God’s inner love radiating out to angels, down through the ranks to us, and from us back through them to God.

The nine choirs (ranks) of angels are divided into three tiers, or triads, each with specific concerns:

  1. The Highest Tier: Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones, who concern themselves with contemplating the glory of God. It is the six-winged seraphim who sing the Sanctus, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Hosts” (Isaiah 6:3).
  2. The Middle Tier: Dominations, Virtues, and Powers, who are known as the “angels of creation” because they concern themselves with the ordering of the cosmos and the causes of things.
  3. The Lower Tier: Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, who concern themselves with the minute ordering of the universe and with specific causes, including the welfare of people. Each human being, each church, and each country has a guardian angel.

Thus, the “Gloria in Excelsis” is a declaration of praise not just overheard and taken up by humanity; it is not just a hymn of praise, it is a dance and a passing of information down the chain of angelic choirs. The highest choirs of angels have descended with the Word made Flesh, Jesus, since it is their role to surround Him with perpetual adoration.

The Church Father, Origen, has the higher angels say,

“If he has put on mortal flesh, How can we remain, doing nothing!? Come Angels, let us descend from heaven!” That is why [Scripture says] there was a multitude of the heavenly Hosts praising and glorifying God when Christ was born. Everything is filled with angels! (Hom in Ex. 1:7)

And now at Jesus’ birth, the Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones signal the lower angels: “This is He, who is Lord of all Creation; He who is ever to be adored and glorified.” The lower angels take up the information and cry out, “Glory to God in the Highest.”

Another Church Father, Pseudo-Dionysius, says of this great heavenly hymn that is declared,

The highest order composed of Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones, and which is closest of all, by reason of its dignity, to the secret sanctuary of God [instructs]  the second order, composed of Dominations, Virtues and Powers. This order in turn reveals the mysteries to the lower tier of angels the Principalities, Archangels and Angels who are set in charge of the human hierarchies (Hier Ceol. 9,2).

And thus the great “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” resounds in the heavens, not just on the earth. The angels are given the good news along with us! An ancient hymn from the Liturgy of St. James says of this moment,

  • Rank on rank the host of heaven
  • spreads its vanguard on the way,
  • as the Light of light descendeth
  • from the realms of endless day,
  • that the powers of hell may vanish
  • as the shadows clear away.
  •  
  • At his feet the six-winged seraph,
  • cherubim, with sleepless eye,
  • veil their faces to the presence,
  • as with ceaseless voice they cry,
  • “Alleluia, alleluia,
  • Alleluia, Lord most high!”

And to us on earth comes the call to hear the music, the great hymn of praise and instruction, and to respond with our souls!

I have it on the best of authority that as the shepherds heard the great song of the angels, one of them said, Over my head I hear music in the air. There must be a God somewhere!

All of creation echoed that night with the song of the angels communicating this truth to one another and to us.

Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echo back the joyous strains
Gloria!

The animals, too, lifted their eyes heavenward, and one was said to say,

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea!

But why all this music at the divine descent? Because the music (Gloria in Excelsis) and the descent are related and meant to signal and lead us higher. Christ descends to one song in order to lead us to an even nobler and higher song,

III Destiny of the Christian – The Psalm says, Sing to the LORD a new song, sing to the LORD, all you lands. Sing to the LORD; bless his name (Ps 96:1-2).

So again, this music (Gloria in Excelsis) and the descent are related and meant to signal and lead us higher. Christ descends to one song in order to lead us to an even nobler and higher song, a song sung in the highest heavens! And without this descent and this first song, the second song and our ascent are impossible. Christ descends to the song of the lower heavens so that we, by His saving grace, may ascend to the place and song of the higher heavens.

And what is this new song and place? Isaiah heard the music and saw the place:

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”  6 Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven”  (Isaiah 6:1-8).

Here is a our new song, a higher song, one sung only in the highest Heaven before the throne of God, one sung only by the redeemed: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts! At every Mass, our High Priest, Jesus, speaking through His ministerial priest says, Lift up your hearts! We reply that we have them lifted up to the Lord. In other words we are told to come up higher, to come into the Holy of Holies in Heaven, to come before the throne and sing the hymn of the highest in Heaven.

Our ascent to this highest place is made possible only by the Lord’s descent to the lowest places here: the manger, the Cross, and Sheol. In the early Church, only the baptized could sing the Sanctus at Mass. The unbaptized were not allowed to attend. The catechumens, though permitted to sing the hymn of the lower heavens (The Gloria), were dismissed prior to the singing of the Sanctus, the song of the higher heavens. Only when we are caught up higher by grace can we hear and join the Sanctus. And one day it will be fully our song when God, who descended, says to us, “Come up higher.” And then, by Him who descended, we will ascend and sing a new song to the Lord!

Over my head I hear music in the air. There must be a God somewhere. And the Lord descends to one song so that we might ascend to a new song in a new place, in the highest heavens. May HE, who descends to the manger today, cause you to ascend to the highest heavens to sing that new song.

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Why is Christmas a Nighttime Event?

Cardinal Donald Wuerl serves as principal celebrant at the Christmas Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Dec 25.O Holy night! Yes, a silent night! And it came upon a midnight clear. Christmas, it would seem, is a festival of the middle of the night. Jesus is born when it is dark, dark midnight. We are sure of it. And why not?

Even though we are not told the exact hour of His birth, we are sure it must have been at night. Scripture does say that the shepherds who heard the glad tidings were keeping watch over their flock “by night” (cf Luke 2:9). Further, the Magi sought him by the light of a star, and stars are seen at night—deep midnight. None of this is evidence that Jesus was born at 11:59 PM, but it sets our clocks for night—deep midnight.

Add to this the fact that Christmas is celebrated near the winter solstice, the very darkest time of the year in the northern hemisphere. More specifically, Christmas breaks in on the very days when the light begins its subtle return. The darkest and shortest days of the year make their appearance on December 21st and 22nd. But by December 23rd and 24th we notice a definite but subtle trend: the days are getting longer; the light is returning! It’s time to celebrate the return of the light; it’s going to be all right!

How fitting, now, to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the true Light of the World, in a deep and dark December. Jesus, our light, kindles a light and a fire that never dies away. Indeed, in the dark hours of December, we have noticed a trend. The light is returning; the darkness is abating; the days are growing longer from here on out. It is subtle now, but it will grow! And with the return of light, we celebrate our True Light: Jesus.

But light is best appreciated in contrast. We most appreciate the glory of light when darkness assails us. There’s just something about Christmas Eve. As the time approaches throughout December, and as the darkness grows, we light lights. All through December, as the darkness grows we light Advent candles, and we light more as it grows darkest! Even the secular among us string lights during dark December, in malls and on houses. It’s as if to say, the darkness cannot win; the light conquers!

Lights have their true glory in contrast to the darkness. Who sees the stars in midday? Who appreciates the beauty of light until he has experienced the darkness? Yes, Christmas is a feast of the light. We confront the darkness of December and declare to it, “Your deepest days are over; the light is returning.” And for us of faith, we say to a world in ever-deeper darkness, “Your darkness cannot remain. It will be overcome and replaced.” For though darkness has its season, it is always conquered by the light.

Light has a way of simply replacing the darkness. On December 22nd/23rd, the darkness begins to recede; the light returns and darkness diminishes. It is almost as if the darkness takes up the words of John the Baptist, He [Jesus] must increase, I must decrease. It seems subtle at first, but the light always returns; the darkness cannot last. In three months, the equinox (equal night and day) occurs, and in six months the summer solstice (the longest day) comes. And the darkness will once again seek to conquer. BUT IT ALWAYS LOSES. The light will return. Jesus is always born at the hour of darkness’ greatest moment. Just when the darkness is celebrating most, its hour is over; the light dawns again.

Yes, we celebrate after sundown on December 24th in accord with a tradition going back to Jewish times that our Feasts begin at sundown the night before.  Christmas morning is almost an afterthought. Most pastors know that the majority of their people have come the “night before.”  In a deep and dark December, a light comes forth, a star, and shines in the heavens.

We gather in and on a dark night. We smile. We are moved by the cry of a tiny infant, by whose voice the heavens were made. His little cry lights up the night. The darkness must go; the light has come; day is at hand.

Yes, we celebrate at night to bid farewell to the darkness. It cannot prevail. It is destined to be scattered by the Light that is far more powerful than it is, a Light it must obey, a Light that overwhelms and replaces it. Farewell to darkness; the Light of the World has come.

Jesus, the Light of the World.

The videos below are a celebration of light. As a Christmas gift to myself last December 22nd, the darkest day of the year, I took an afternoon off and went to photograph the triumph of light over darkness. I went to a Mausoleum—yes, to a place where thousands are buried in the walls. But also in those walls are windows, glorious windows where light breaks through and Christ shines forth. Some of the most beautiful stained glass in the city of Washington resides in that place of death and darkness. The light breaks through and it speaks of Christ.

These videos are a testimony to just some of those windows. In this place, a place of death, a light breaks through: the light of faith, the Light of Christ. The text of the music in this video is from Taizé, and it says, Christe lux mundi, qui sequitur te, habebit lumen vitae, lumen vitae (Christ, Light of the World! Who follows you has the light of life, the light of life). The second video features verses from the “Canticle of the Three Children” in the Book of Daniel.

As you view these videos, ponder that stained glass begins as opaque sand. But when subjected to and purified by the fire, it radiates the glory of light, which can now shine through it. So it is for us. Born in darkness, but purified by Christ and the fire of the Spirit, we begin to radiate His many-splendored Light shining through us to a dark world.

The Light wins. He always wins.

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Christmas Isn’t Perfect – So Find Christ in Your Real Christmas

Kate Ter Haar - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ via Flickr.com
Kate Ter Haar Licensed under CC by 2.0 via Flickr.com

Most of us have a perfect Christmas in mind. Often it is the creation of Hallmark, Currier & Ives, and various marketers. But none of us will have a perfect Christmas, just a real one.

The First Christmas wasn’t perfect either. In fact, the only way to describe it is to call it a crisis. Mary was pregnant before marriage, a very dangerous thing in those times. Just at the time of birth they were required to travel eighty miles on foot to Bethlehem. There was no room for them in the inn. Joseph must have felt dejected, finding no place for his wife to give birth. Jesus is born in a stinking, dank cave. No sooner is He born than there are threats against His life and the family must flee to Egypt. There goes Joseph’s career and livelihood! Mary and Joseph are separated from family and home, from the support they likely needed.

It probably couldn’t have gone worse. There were surely no chestnuts roasting on an open fire, no roast or turkey, no gentle fallen snow.

Yet it was in that crisis of a Christmas that Jesus was found, not in the Hallmark Christmas. And whatever your Christmas holds this year, that is where He will be found. So Merry Christmas, unless another sort of Christmas awaits you. But find Christ there and it will be CHRISTmass.

This video shows an imperfect Christmas, but a good one nonetheless.

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All is Calm, All is Bright…Really? Maybe This Video Will Help

120514The video below was produced by the Archdiocese of Washington for our “Find the Perfect Gift” Christmas outreach. It is an attempt to refocus Catholics and non-Catholics on the truest and most perfect gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ. It also invites each of us to give the perfect gift, the gift of our very self to God and to one another.

The video illustrates well a problem that we can all have at Christmas: hectic, hurried lives, made even busier by “holiday” requirements and traditions. These traditions, beautiful though they are, sometimes backfire and become a kind of countersign to some of the songs we sing, which speak of all being calm and bright, heavenly peace, peace on earth, and so forth.

The video also shows a problem that has become worse in recent years with the “stovepiping” effect of technology, which allows us to live in our own self-designed but very separate worlds. Many of us walk about with ear buds in and barely notice the others around us. Others of us tune in to a very self-selected world of cable TV and/or Netflix. It is possible, as this video demonstrates, for people to live in the same house and yet inhabit different worlds.

Somewhere in the busy-but-isolated world of the household depicted here, is a member of the family who gets it right, and both finds and sings of peace. We all struggle to get it right and to find our proper center. Allow this video to give you a little vision of what the perfect gift is and what the perfect Christmas is. Gifts, parties, and yuletide joy are nice and have their places, but don’t miss the perfect gift!

For more information, you can click through at the link above, or visit this URL: www.findtheperfectgift.org.

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Finding that forgotten one at Christmas; that someone who needs love.

Christmas is a beautiful time of the year for most of us, most of the time. But it is also true that Christmas can be a very painful time of year for some, especially those who have experienced recent loss or who, for various reasons, have fewer family options at Christmas. Yes, Christmas can be the best of times, and the loneliest of times, the most wonderful time of the year, or the most painful.

The video below reminds us that Christmas can also be a time to reach out to others who have a hard time experiencing Christmas. Perhaps it is a relative or friend who has lost a spouse this past year and this will be the first Christmas alone. Perhaps it is some one who is left out because they are military and family are far away. Perhaps it is some one who is shy and even a little anti-social, but somewhere under all their grouchiness we see their pain and know that they need some outreach at Christmas.

Whatever the situation, there are always those who need to be included, who for various reasons feel excluded.

In the video, a hare, i.e. a rabbit, is friends with a bear who always misses Christmas because of hibernation. But something in the hare says that Christmas will not be Christmas without his friend, and without his friend being able to experience the joy of Christmas. It occurs to the hare that a particular gift will help the bear enjoy Christmas, if even for a moment. And so, he gives the gift, which you will see at the end of the video.

I leave it to you to see the touching conclusion and to ask who the bear is in your life that you need to reach out to in this season of Christmas. For me it was an old family friend that I had lost touch with this year, and whose mind is beginning to fade with age. But she had been good to my father in his dying process, and so I sought her out and had a nice talk.

How about you? Who is that someone that needs some special outreach this Christmas. Christ will surely be pleased if you give the gift of love.

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The Greater Gift – As seen in a touching Christmas Commercial

There is an old saying that the greatest things in life aren’t things. Our greatest gifts are those we love, beginning with God, and extending to one another.

One of the great dangers at Christmas time (and with life in general) is that we maximize the minimum and minimize the maximum, of, as Jesus puts it, we strain out gnats and swallow camels (Matt 23:24).  He spoke this of the religiously observant of his day who meticulously followed small and technical rules about cleanliness and ritual purity,  but neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness (Matt 23:22).

In other words, at Christmas we can so focus on getting things and arranging events at Christmas that we neglect or even harm those who are our greatest gift.

Consider the growing sadness that many have now largely set aside the once sacred Thanksgiving holiday where people could spend time with family and enjoy company. Why? To have the stores open so people can run from the people they love to buy things for them. The gift eclipses both the giver and the recipient. And, on top of that we potentially sin against charity by creating a climate that requires the poor and those of the lower wage, working class in our store to work on Thanksgiving.

Add to this the short tempers at shopping malls, often caused by traffic, long lines, and items out of stock and the impression is created that things are more important than people. Not all suffer from this, but it is a problem.

In the video below is a touching reminder that the truer purpose of a gift is the well-being of another and the love we can show at Christmas.

The basic scene is that two snowmen are built, a kind of husband and wife snowman family. But one has, and the other has not. Seeing his wife’s need, a snowman sets out, enduring great hardship and many obstacles, to get for his wife what she needs. The greatest gifts are those that show care for another.

The “creator” of the snowman is watching this act of love unfold through the window. At the touching end of the video, the creator is very pleased.

And so too our Creator and Lord is also watching from the window of heaven and He is pleased with our acts of mercy as well.

The greatest things in life aren’t things; they are those we love. And the greater gift this Christmas is not so much the thing we give, as the care and love we extend through gifts shared, and the shared gift of our very selves.