Copyright 2000 Catholic Exchange
Reality never quite matches our hopes and expectations, at least not this side of the veil. Aunt Emma’s cooking is not quite like Mom’s, the gifts from your in-laws don’t quite match the house, the choir at Mass skips your favorite Christmas carol, Uncle Jerry gets drunk and passes out in the armchair…you know the drill. Some years, the minor (and major) disappointments can combine to create a melancholy holiday.
We must remember that the first Christmas was of a rather seamy, shabby sort. The poor and reluctant travelers, Joseph on foot and Mary on a donkey, were shunned from all the inns of Bethlehem. Surely Joseph’s feet were aching, and he was likely half-crazed with worry as he saw that his very pregnant wife was in the throes of labor. As for Mary, her peaceful acceptance of the child within also entailed accepting the circumstances of His birth. Did she have to swallow her disappointment that He would not be born amidst family and friends, warm in the home she had prepared for Him?
Finally, one innkeeper took pity on them and showed them into the stable in a cave on a hillside. If you or I had been Mary, we would have wept with disbelief and dismay. To bring forth your firstborn son next to the cow dung and the pig trough would have been the last straw! (Pardon the pun … so irresistible!) However, there is no mention of tears or histrionics on Mary’s part. To her, any place that God provided was good and right.
Why? What was Mary’s secret? The Messiah, of course! She could only be filled with joy, because this newborn baby was the promised Messiah! Emmanuel! Wonderful! Counselor! Almighty God! Everlasting Father! Prince of Peace! The words of the prophets she had heard her entire life became a reality at her feet! When she looked around her, she did not see the banal and the depressing. She recognized that the Messiah had come to save us all, and her eyes reflected this transcendent reality.
Mary’s secret can be your secret, too. Spend your Christmas searching out the surprising Infant in all of His Glory! Reality must include the Divine Child, for it is His birthday, and the only gift He truly wants is your joyfilled heart at His coming. At Christmas, we rejoice because He really did come in the flesh, and He truly is present in the Mass! Like Mary, we actually receive Him!
As long as our eyes and our hearts focus solely on the worldly trappings of Christmas, we are closed off to the real joy of Christmas. If this holiday season has been less than jolly for you and your family, I particularly appeal to you to receive with all of your souls the GOOD NEWS of the Messiah! He has come in the flesh, and He intends for you to be filled with His peace. A great Light has come, and you shall not suffer in vain.
I am told that many people leave the Catholic Church because the music is too discordant, the priests are too arrogant, the people are too standoffish and the liturgies are too boring. All of those things may be true. However, as a convert, I can say that none of those reasons would move me. I came to the Church with precious few expectations. All I knew was that Jesus Christ was upon the altar, and I was deeply in need of His grace in the sacraments.
I don’t mind telling you that since my conversion, my cup has runneth over, literally, and sometimes in ways I did not like. In order for my heart to be filled with joy, I had to get rid of a lot of junk that piled up in there. Grace may be free, but to receive grace fully, I had to change and learn to love with my entire heart. Praise God for His miraculous plan, because it is easy to change for the sake of a beloved Infant!
This year, as the relatives pile into the car for midnight Mass, rejoice! Like Mary, forget the long day behind you of preparation and stress, and ignore the messes that the children (or unrepentant adults…) may have made. Look around you with wonder, and let it all be enough for you. Praise God with an undivided heart full of awe at His mercy, because He came in the flesh, to redeem us, His sisters and brothers in the flesh. Allow your heart to envision the peace and joy of the kingdom that He promised — and to begin to take Him at His word.
Today, may you have a reality-based Christmas! May your prayers be answered, and your faith renewed! Most of all, may your heart rejoice in Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh that all men might be saved! “Gloria in excelsis Deo!”
