We have begun our celebration: cards opened, homes decorated, trees trimmed, gifts unwrapped, special foods eaten.
We have begun our celebration: the Christ candle is lit; the Eucharistic Liturgies for Christmas have told the story of promises kept and the long awaited and longed for savior who has come.
Let the celebration continue!
Our churches and in many homes, we have Nativity scenes reminding us of that amazing event that took place over 2,000 years ago--the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God into human history. The Church gives us around twelve days with its different liturgies--to help us enter more deeply into this mystery and ponder once again its meaning and implications for our lives as followers of Jesus. Christmas carols and Nativity scenes, large and small, fire our imaginations. This story is not meant to be a tale told once a year, but one that takes hold of our hearts and minds, forever changing us.
Because God loves each of his creations and desires to save, rescue creation from the destructive forces of evil. Jesus came and did this! As we read the newspapers, we might rightly question whether evil has been conquered. But it has! Our response to this amazing and awe-inspiring action of God ought to be one of humble gratitude with a renewed willingness to listen to God and allow God’s agenda to become ours. Doing this, we become partners with Jesus Christ in vanquishing evil.
The Old Testament prophet, Micah (Micah 6: 8) summed up the wisdom in the Law with these words, “Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” Jesus gave us the new commandment which is to be the reason for all that we do and are, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Tall tasks that we can’t do on our own—we need God’s love alive in us so that we can be that love for others. We need to know God and then we will have no trouble being humble. We need to know God’s designs for his creation and not be taken in by our culture’s designs for creation. Our weekly gathering to do Eucharist is worship of God and also the privileged way we grow in knowledge and love of God. Why not take some time during these days of Christmas (Season ends January 8, 2023) to receive God’s gift of Jesus Christ and reflect on what Jesus Christ is calling you to?