THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS

Do you feel overwhelmed during the Advent and Christmas season? LIke everyone’s having a better time in this so-called most wonderful time of the year than you perhaps? It is all too easy to get caught up in the commercial aspects of the season.

And as such we can often lose track of the importance of what it is we're really celebrating at Christmas: the Word made flesh, the second person of the Trinity becoming a human being to redeem Fallen Humanity from our sins.

Sadly for too many years saying “Merry Christmas” has been considered to be too exclusionary of those of other faiths or of no faith at all. While it is true that this season does encompass other celebrations such as Hanukkah and New Year's Day, there is something very special about what we are acknowledging in celebrating this particular event.

Think of it! The word of God becomes Incarnate in the form of a little baby, the second person of the Trinity, as mentioned earlier. As we read in the first wonderfully poetic lines of John’s Gospel in chapter on “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14)

It is important to remember as well that this little baby, born in a cave to die on a cross, was not just some historical figure, some philosopher, or some revolutionary preacher; in other words he was not just a human being like the rest of us. For many people, it is all too easy to deny anything supernatural relating to our Lord Jesus Christ.

We see for example those in our faith who have been poorly catechized to believe that the miracle of the loaves and fishes was merely everybody's sharing what food they’d brought with them when coming to hear Jesus’ preaching!

Or that all Jesus’ other miracles chronicled in scripture could somehow be explained away as symbolic or otherwise misinterpreted. It’s as if this Jewish Carpenter could never really be God from God light from light, true God from true God as we say in the Nicene Creed.

And it's important to remember how much Jesus values your soul. As we read in the Baltimore Catechism God made each one of us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.

This is especially important to remember at this time of year. It’s all too easy to feel lonely, anxious or even otherwise depressed looking at all those ads and commercials where everyone else seems to be so full of love and happiness.

It's as if having a great time and great fellowship can be all yours if you just buy this product or service; and that love itself can be measured by the number of presents under a tree or the size or value of those presents. Is it any wonder that so many people feel like they’re the only ones missing out on these great holiday get-togethers.

This, of course, is an illusion. This is not to say that people aren’t enjoying time with their families and friends and such at Christmas. But if somehow this doesn't apply to you, think of that little baby born not even in an inn but in the outskirts of Bethlehem in a grotto, in a cave.

I’ve read meditations on the Nativity where it’s been pointed out that God wishes to show all of us the value of Humility in His having been born in a cave to die on a cross. If our Creator can humble Himself in such a manner, we are called to imitate Him in resisting,rather than succumbing, to vainglory, which most of us so often do!

The Late John Cardinal O'Connor, as recorded in a wonderful book of his homilies at Saint Patrick's Cathedral entitled A Moment of Grace, once shared with the congregation there a wonderful insight he'd received from his confessor. Namely, that Christ became a little baby for Cardinal O'Connor and not just for His Eminence, but for each one of you reading this or hearing this right now and that he would have come to redeem us if each one of us were the only person in the world!

So as we await Jesus’ birth outside of Bethlehem during Advent, and His Second Coming which will take place at a time unknown to us, this is an especially good time to remember that you have value as a human being no matter what your circumstances might be these days.

The fact that you been created in the image and likeness of God is something that can give you some comfort and strength in these somewhat trying times.

Also remember that Christ Himself, in becoming one of us in flesh, God in two natures, human and divine, is ready and very much desires for you to spend time with him in prayer in Communion, in Eucharistic Adoration, and whatever quiet time or time spent with loved ones you may see fit.

And Jesus wants to give each one of us badly needed grace and strength to carry our crosses, whatever they may be!

And He’ll never be too busy for you. There’s no way He’s ever too busy for any of us! He's not like some worldly ruler or celebrity to whom you have to have connections to see.

And you can have your own private audience with the Word who was made flesh over 2000 years ago anytime you want. All he asks of us is a humble, contrite heart filled with the desire to serve him in loving obedience, and to share his love in how we treat each other.

Keep in mind as well, that, as we read in scripture, no one needed to tell Jesus about human nature in His earthly ministry. He knew all too well how fickle we can be. Think of also the rejection he suffered in his life and still suffers to this day.

After all, this is a world plagued by so many people trying to make themselves Gods (plural) as opposed to God's (apostrophe s), the tyranny of the apostrophe, as it has been called!

In a world dominated by those lusting after power, prestige, and wealth; and all those things you can't take with you to your grave, Christ nonetheless is that beacon of hope that light shining in a dark place that the darkness has not overcome as we read about also in John's gospel, chapter 1 verse 5.

It is up to each of us to open the door he knocks on asking for a place for him to dwell in our hearts and in our souls.

So especially if you feel overwhelmed by this season or that you feel particularly unloved or unwanted or just ill at ease in this topsy turvy times, know that that little baby came down 2000 plus years ago not just for all of us but for you as well.

And you can share your loneliness and your longings with him and ask Jesus to help you as fully as possible to stay sane in sanctity in a world that too often seems to have gone mad.

The important thing is not to shut Jesus out in despair from whatever crosses you may be bearing these days. Give Him your love and your desire to serve him so that ultimately he may not have died in vain for you or for any of your loved ones, or anyone else in your prayers. Amen!