During these holidays, we hear forecasts about the challenges in 2024. Our ancestors faced similar challenges. The Roman statesman Cicero wrote in 55 BC: “The…budget must be balanced.” Cicero would be shocked at the size of our national debt. And Livy, a historian in the 1st century AD, objected to the moral rot and slipping standards of conduct in society. So the biblical maxim rings true: there seems to be not much new under the sun.
Yet this is a festive time of year. Children get excited about the arrival of Santa Claus. Streets burst with lights. Smiles and greetings of good will abound. Stores and online circuits are loaded with shoppers. Across this great land, families gather to celebrate this holy season in their own special ways.
Symbols of this season can invite us to carry forth the true meaning of Christmas as we prepare to welcome and worship the Christ child.
A TREE: the green symbolizes hope. Trust in God’s unconditional love for us despite challenges. 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; seek and share the good in ourselves, in others, in every situation in life.
A STAR: the star symbolizes the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Messiah; keep our promises so that we can build relationships of trust.
A CANDLE: the candle symbolizes Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Jesus scatters the darkness; as we go about our daily lives and challenges, we might occasionally ask ourselves: What would Jesus do in this or that circumstance?
SANTA: the word meaning "Saint" symbolizes a good person. Be big-hearted: generous with the gifts God has given us.
These symbols and more can invite us to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, worshipping the Christ-child, Emmanuel, God-with-us.
The Word of God carries us back three thousand years, to the days of King David in Jerusalem. His life in many ways resembled a soap opera: a man of virtue and vice. David wants to build a temple for the ark of the covenant: a symbol of God’s presence. The prophet Samuel notes that everything David has is a gift from God. After all, David once herded sheep; and now he’s a king.Then the prophet proclaims that God will build a house for David: a dynasty that will endure forever, an heir, an allusion to the Messiah. The author challenges us, as he challenged David, to thank God for all we have.
St. Paul in his letter to the Christian community in Rome sings a hymn of praise. Paul, a devout Jew, says that God’s special favor (i.e. Jesus Christ) has come thru ancient Israel to all people, Jew as well as Gentile. And to God alone we owe worship. Paul prompts us to recognize who we are: fragile, mortal creatures in the presence of an awesome God; accountable to God for what we do.
In the Gospel, we have the annunciation scene. Picture it. Somehow, the power of God broke into the life of Mary -- like a station break -- asking Mary to believe that she would bear within herself a special child. Mary was so tuned in to God's presence, she said simply: be it done to me as you say.
That's easy to say when things go our way; but not so easy when what is happening is the opposite of our plans. Perhaps something we wanted but won’t have. Perhaps a broken relationship, an unexpected illness. Such turns in life can test our trust in God.
Mary’s “Yes” with such deep faith gave us the Christmas story: the world’s greatest love story. That story, as it has come down to us, tells of a baby in a trough. It tells of a mother holding her child in her arms as her husband Joseph stays near. Angels singing; shepherds running over the hillside to tell the child how much they loved him. Yes, a star guiding wise magi over the wilderness and onto their knees to worship.
Centuries ago, St. John summed up this 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. Thru him all things came to be and apart from him nothing 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. We bear within ourselves Emmanuel, God with us, by virtue of baptism. Wherever we gather together in his name: before the Word of God and around the Table of the Lord, the altar, God is there with us.
St. Paul summed up magnificently who we are: we are by grace what Jesus is by nature: sons and daughters of God our Father.
That is God’s gift to us. We are like God. One day we shall see God as God is.
But until then, 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; and
those who are weary to courageously live the Gospel.
