“For today in the city of David asavior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord…” Luke 2:11
As we approach that
beautiful day of the Nativity of the Lord, I am meditating on the words that we
hear at midnight mass: “For Today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.” (Luke 2:11) These words recall the
often-quoted phrase: “He’s the reason for the season!” Jesus Christ, fully God
as the second person of the Trinity, humbled himself to come into the world for
our salvation and forgiveness of sins. Jesus, as we know and understand, is
fully God and fully human. He’s like us in all things but sin.
As we go about the
different things we do during this busy time of year, let us remember the true
meaning of Christmas: Jesus Christ, born humbly in a stable in Bethlehem. The
Advent and Christmas season is not about Christmas parties and exchanging gifts
(as nice as that all is): it’s about looking towards the Christ-Child and our
relationship with Him and with each other.
As Jesus matured in
His manhood and started bringing the love and forgiveness of God during His
earthly ministry, His focus was on teaching us that we are to love God with our
whole mind, heart, and soul, and we are to love others as we love God. Keep
that in mind during this busy and hectic time leading up to Christmas. Christ
is the center of who we are as Christians, and we are to love all those that
God has placed into our lives.
Merry Christmas.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteI think I have always sought to put the real meaning of CHRISTMAS--the birth of CHRIST & the wonder of the Incarnation--the Divine Son of GOD taking on our humanity & coming to us as a baby & coming to dwell with us as our EMMANUEL, our SAVIOR & MESSIAH--first. My favorite parts of CHRISTMAS are singing in the choir at Midnight Mass & sometimes serving at other Masses as well, singing & listening to CHRISTMAS CAROLS & spending time with family or friends.
For about the past 20 years I have chosen to avoid stress by choosing not to clean, decorate or send Christmas cards. The only Christmas chore I retained was Christmas shopping (but with a gift list reduced to 20-30 people & sometimes including gift cards), putting presents into gift bags with tissue paper (much easier than gift wrap)& writing out cards only to accompany presents or to mail with a check to cousins who have children. So I still had the pressure of getting the shopping & gift preparation done, but I managed to find the time, & for 3 years I enjoyed the financial blessing of my inheritance, so I was very blessed & happy to lavish others with the blessing of giving.
However, this year a lot of my time is spent helping a friend, so my time is limited. I also am dealing with health issues & medical appointments & the stress these entail. And now I have used up my inheritance (a lot on myself but a lot helping others, so I am hoping that the promise that GOD will not be undone in generosity will eventually come through for me), so my finances are dwindling. So this year I don't have the time, money or energy I have relied upon & have had to reduce my gift giving to a very bare minimum.
Therefore, this year I have to express my love & share the love of CHRIST in ways other than gift giving. Hopefully I do this by being myself & by the other "love languages" of quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation, prayers & hugs!
CHRISTMAS will be somewhat different this year, but the wonder of the Incarnation remains the same.
There is a meme on FACEBOOK that says that if you haven't made the desserts or cleaned the house or done any of the chores & activities traditionally associated with CHRISTMAS, it's STILL CHRISTMAS, but WITHOUT CHRIST IT'S NOT CHRISTMAS. I agree.
I just wanted to point out something that came to my attention from Arlene. I put "to love others as we love God." Jesus did say that we should love others as we love ourselves. I was, when writing this, also thinking of Matthew 25: "Whatever you do to the least of my brothers & sisters, you do to me." So, in our love for others, we are also loving God. Just my perspective. In the scheme of things, our Lord wants us to love God and to love others! Wouldn't the world be a better place if we simply followed the Lord's command of love for God and for others?
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