Bob Kenward writes the Prepare for Mass blog which contains reflections and resources to help Catholics reflect and pray on the Sunday mass readings for each week. Today he brings us a post on Why Christmas Cannot Fit Into One Day.
Merry Christmas. Praise be to Jesus Christ now and forever.
The miracle of Christmas is far too important to celebrate for just a single day. The Christmas story needs to be experienced and reflected on for entire seasons. To fully experience Christmas takes an entire lifetime on this earth and into eternity.
The Church begins to prepare for Christmas during Advent. This is a time when we set aside a few weeks to prepare the way for Jesus birth. After Christmas day the Church continues to celebrate for a few weeks allowing what we just experienced to take root.
While we are still living, it is a time to prepare for our ultimate destination, heaven. Our life of faith is a journey. This journey is full of unexpected events, pitfalls, hardships, and disappointments. Fortunately, along the way we experience dull reflections of the happiness in store for those of us willing to stay the course.
The birth of Christ at the first Christmas was not the beginning of the second person of God. The word was with God. God has no beginning and no end. At Christmas the word became flesh and came to meet us. Thanks to the coming of Jesus at Christmas, the law of God that once was written on stone tablets is now written on our hearts. Dwelling among us, God is so close to us and has a relationship with us.
It is amazing to think about the dimensions of God. In himself God is a society. He is one, but, at the same time three distinct persons who are not complete without each other. The works of creation can remind us of the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It has been observed that a family with the husband, wife, and children are but a faint reflection of the properties of God. Our capacity to love is dependent upon our entering into the source of love that is God. If there is to be order of the universe, each part of God’s creation must align to the purposes of its creation.
The word becoming flesh and dwelling among us is in itself an incredible sign of contradiction. To enter into the love of God presents such challenges for us. This Jesus born in such humble circumstances for the single purpose of dying to expiate sins of all humanity calls us to enter into his sacrifice. The Sacraments that we as Catholics receive by our own choice, or that of our parents, require a sacrifice that changes us in a radical way. The changes we experience are truly causes of division. When the Son of God was on earth, he was killed and his followers suffered, many being killed themselves. The word of God is still with us and many Christians to this day are still persecuted.
Each year, when the season comes, we are asked by God to experience the incarnation anew and to allow the baby Jesus to grow in our souls from ‘cradle to cross’ and from ‘cross to grave’. The journey takes us to many places we don’t want to go and sometimes while on our own we regret going there. But, knowing that God brings order to the disorder that life can be if left on our own, makes life a little more worth living. Knowing that God is closer to us than we can ever imagine, can make the difficult journey a little easier to bear.
Yes, God is here with us and throughout our lives he is ever so gently nudging us to enter into his love. He wants us to know and do his will. The journey we are on is the quest to know and do his will. This is the journey of a lifetime and is precisely why Christmas is far too big to fit into one day.
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Join us tomorrow for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.
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