This is also a particularly festive time of year for children excited about the arrival of Santa Claus. Lights appear everywhere; stores are jammed with shoppers and online circuits are overloaded.
In the middle of this hustle and bustle, symbols of this holy season—a tree, an angel, a star, a candle, and “Saint Nick”—can invite us to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, as we prepare to welcome and worship the Christ child at Christmas.
A TREE: the green color symbolizes hope. Always trust in God’s unconditional love for us. And the needles on the tree point heavenward; think about the presence of God as we go through our daily routine.
AN ANGEL: angels sang the glorious news of the Savior’s birth; look for the good in ourselves, in other people, in every situation in life.
A STAR: the star symbolizes the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Messiah, a Savior; keep our promises so that we can build relationships of trust.
A CANDLE: the candle symbolizes Jesus Christ, the light of the world, who scatters the darkness all around us; as we go about our daily challenges, we might occasionally ask ourselves: What would Jesus do to in this or that particular circumstance?
And finally SANTA: Santa symbolizes good will. Be generous with what we have.
Yes, these five symbols and more invite us to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, worshipping the Christ-child, Emmanuel, God-with-us.
In today's word of God, Isaiah describes the eighth century Hebrew King Ahaz in a quandary: mighty Assyria threatens his kingdom. Should he join an anti-Assyrian alliance? Or trust in God’s providence for his people?
Isaiah begs him to “ask for a sign from God.” The king refuses.
So, Isaiah prophesizes that God will give a sign. A young woman will bear a child, Emmanuel or “God-with-us.”
Isaiah's point is simple: God never reneges on His promises to us; David's house will indeed bring forth a Messiah, a savior.
Eight centuries later, early Christianity saw the prophecy fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, whose name means “he will save.” Jesus is indeed our way, our truth and our light.
Paul, in his letter to the Christian community at Rome, introduces himself as an apostle called to deliver a message from God: the Gospel, the Good News that
Jesus Christ is gloriously alive, and because He lives, we live forever.
The community, Paul emphasizes, is beloved by God and called to be holy, consecrated -- set apart from secular materialism -- to continue the ministry of Jesus until He comes again with glory at the end-time. That seems like a weighty calling for us. But, with Jesus as the source of our spiritual life, we can accomplish as much today as Paul did in his day.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Mary is pregnant with a child by the power of the Spirit. Joseph here faces a dilemma: it's not Joseph's child, so it’s logical to conclude Mary must have committed adultery, punishable by death according to Jewish custom. But Joseph is not about to let that happen. What to do?
Then, Joseph has a dream, an overpowering experience of the Divine, that convinces him to take Mary as his wife.
Joseph and Mary especially are two people of extraordinary trust in God’s love for them.
Somehow, the power of God broke into Mary’s life, asking her to believe that she would bear within herself a special child. And because Mary was so attuned to God’s presence in her daily life, she replied with great faith: may it be it done to me as you say.
Yes, the Beatles sang: “Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, ‘Let it be.’”
These words (“let it be”) are easy to say when things are going our way; but they are not so easy to say when what is happening to us is the opposite of what we want. Perhaps we wanted a particular job. Perhaps we have a life-threatening illness or have become estranged from a loved one or experienced the death of a spouse/child. Such turns in life can test our trust in God's unconditional love for us.
But Mary’s “Yes” gave us the Christmas story: the greatest love story in the history of civilizations.
That story tells of a baby in a feeding trough, of a mother cradling her child as her husband stays near. It tells of angels singing, and shepherds running over the hillside to tell the child how much they love him. Yes, it tells of a star guiding so-called astrologers over the wilderness and onto their knees to worship the Child Jesus.
Centuries ago, St. John summed up this greatest love story in a single line: “the Word became flesh.” Yes, John wrote for us: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Through him all things came to be…He was the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and made its dwelling among us.
Christmas means not simply God in Bethlehem centuries ago, but God within us today..
We bear within us Emmanuel, God with us, by virtue of the life-giving waters of baptism and nurture that divine life here at the mass. Wherever we gather together in his name, God is there.
St. Paul summed up magnificently centuries ago who we are: we are by grace what Jesus Christ is by nature: sons and daughters of God our Father. That is God’s gift to us. We are like God and one day we shall see God as God is.
But until Jesus comes again in great glory at the end-time, we are called to be missionary disciples of Jesus, bringing the good news to others, doing all the good we can, to all the people we can:
helping those who doubt to find faith;
those who despair to find hope;
those who are sad or angry to find joy;
those who are sick to find health;
those who are weary to courageously live the Gospel;
and those who are dying to find peace in God forever.
