Beyond the Ho! Ho! Ho!

Back home, this time of year is called "the silly season", for this is both Christmastime and major holiday time, during which ones may indulge themselves in far too much fun, or even in unsafe behaviour.  Among the clergy, this is enjoyed as an "off time", as so many are away on holiday.   

Christmas Day is celebrated and it is time to let the "Ho, Hos" go and start the serious business of living Christmas, for Christmas is not for Christmas Day alone, but for every day of the year.  Let us never forget that "the Word became flesh", thus telling us where to find God - here nd now.  

Surely, our world does not encapsulate the fullness of divine reality, but let us neither underestimate that here is very much part of the divine, defined by it. We may not easily see this reality in the midst of our corporate mess and confusion, but whose fault is that? 

God became human so that we become like God, children of God.  Our very being, our worldly vocation are God like, sacred.  The divine and the human are one, not divided.  Do we get it?  

If we get it, we show it by living life to the full now, forgiving those we hurt, loving all, offering hope to the hopeless, being ever kind, building the Reign of God.  So our Christmas joy is real, is grounded, going beyond fantasy and merriment.  

God is good.  Do we appreciate by how much?  Life is mystery.      

Have a Happy and Holy Christmas

 

It struck me as we approach Christmas during ongoing, extraordinary times, that this is a community event.  No one is left behind.  It is all or none.  It is enjoyed, celebrated, accomplished together, never alone.  Together, we leap for joy when recognizing a world full of miracles.  Together, we know happiness when sharing goodness and kindness.  Together, we know fulfilment when we appreciate we have done all we can and keep doing it.  

2,000 years ago, a young woman was bewildered and excluded, thanks to the God of mystery, placing an unbelievable challenge before her.  He response was to believe in the Mystery, be humbled by love and accept her calling in life.  So the Word was made flesh.  

We follow the same path - believe in the Mystery, be humbled by love and accept our calling.  So our God turns everything upside down, challenging us to participate more fully in the Reign of God.  What a great adventure is life, when it is fully appreciated, not being limited by our control, domination or narrow vision.     

Christmas is a wondrous and attractive time, full of memories, images and story, that bespeak the goodness of life, the joy of humanity, the vision of creation and the mystery of God.  

Have a happy and holy Christmas.     

No Ho Ho?

Santa Claus in Rome (Matteo Nardone - Guardian - Dec 2021)

My motto at this time of year during during an ongoing pandemic is - 

"Christmas matters.  No matter what, Christmas is coming."  

Nothing can stop Christmas - neither pandemic, disaster, loss nor disbelief.  I am not being naive, nor selfish, nor insensitive, when I say this.  It is actually, just the opposite, because my stance is based on a primary premise that Christmas is neither defined nor captured, by a society ruled by consumerism nor individualism; nor by a world tearing itself apart.  Still, I sadly acknowledge that a failing world has had its powerful influence over Christmas.  This does not diminish Christmas.  Rather it motivates me, for the sake of joy and goodness flourishing in our world, to uphold Christmas more than ever.  

I was brought up on Christmas.  Growing up in my family, it was that time of the year, when I expeerienced excitement and expectation, fun and coming together, givng and receiving.  As I look back, they are all themes for nourishing and building a wholesome life, a holy life.   

The question is often asked - Do you believe in Santa Claus?  Well, why not?  As named by a Catholic diocese in Italy, his story speaks of  "giving, generosity, sharing", important themes of Christmas.  Why then be mean and deny Christmas, or worse, give it a bad name with our loss of faith or focus?   

Christmas touches into mystery, the mystery of life, the mystery of God.  We ask, "How can this be?"  Simply, it can be, and is, even during a pandemic and whatever strikes us along the way.  God is truly mystery.  We will never understand, but God always will be with us, no matter what.  "God is stranger than we know, stronger than we feel, weaker than we think, wider than we imagine." (Graham Kings) 

As Cardinal Bo shares in his 2021 Advent Message to his suffering people in Myanmar: 

"The manger of Bethlehem ultimately won over the might of Rome.  Let that be our hope."

it's looking a lot like Christmas

As Christmas approaches, we have a few exciting Sundays at church, celebrating the Sacraments of Baptism, Penance and Eucharist with our children.  Sacraments themselves are exciting, for they allow us to be church at our best, while opening us to seeing, hearing, touching, smelling God in the midst of our daily lives.  

Amazing?  Much more than amazing, for they take us to the very depths and extremities of our human reality.  They take us where we could never imagine, for they reveal to us the mystery of God.  This mystery is ultimately revealed to us through Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Mary.  This happens as his life shows us that the human and divine come together in the midst of our reality.  This is all due to God's choosing and action.  Mystery has become a powerful word for me, as it so captures who we truly and fully are, so captures all that is the essence of life.  

The great Teresa of Avila sums up the mystery of the human and divine.  She wrote - "The journey to union with the Beloved is a journey home to the center of ourselves. ... The human soul is so glorious that God himself chooses it as his dwelling place.  The path to God, then, leads us on a journey of self-discovery.  To know the self is to know God."  

Creation is a reflection of God.  We discover and taste God in human reality.  We show God through the lens of that same reality.  This speaks of the beauty of life.  Life, full of the divine, is itself exciting.  Sacraments grant us entry to these divine mysteries, the deeper and richer meaning of life in the midst of the everyday.  This is all so invigorating for sacraments continually reaffirm the divine message that the whole world is sacred.