Amazing, the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve Day!
Anyone who has heard me preach at a funeral knows that one of my favorite themes is that life is filled with mystery. Any number of times, I have done a funeral for a World War II veteran who was lucky, or rather blessed, to make it out alive. Had they not, the four generations present at the particular funeral would not exist. Now that speaks to the mystery present in all our lives.
The reason I love Advent and Christmas more than any other time of the liturgical year is that these days are filled with mystery and wonder for those gifted with the eyes of Faith. The season shouts out: light in darkness, peace among peoples. It proclaims the coming of a love that cradles us, holds us, cherishes us.
This morning, (I am writing this on December 15th) the reflection for the day in ˜GIVE US THIS DAY™ was written by Fr.Kevin O’Brien. He captures the theology of Christmas better than I. He says “Sometimes we so remove God from earthly concerns, that God becomes irrelevant to our daily life. We reserve the holy only for moments in Church. When we make God so remote, we miss the good news of the Incarnation that we anticipate in Advent. When God became one of us in Jesus, the sacred and the secular, the holy and the mundane, became one. The Incarnation (The Word becoming Flesh) unites all that is
human with Jesus.”
So, ask for the gift of being able to see deep within both your own heart for the divine presence that is everywhere for those with the eyes to see.
Have a blessed Christmas!
