It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Or is it? After two months, if not more, of holiday planning, shopping, decorating, baking, etc., Christmas can seem almost anti-climactic – the cool down after the marathon. No more gifts to wrap, no more credit cards to max out, no more grumpy shoppers to wrestle for the latest must-have electronic gadget. The original purpose of this holy day is so deeply buried under commercialism and secularization, it’s been a struggle just to find one nativity scene among the plethora of snowmen and nutcrackers at the shopping malls.
To paraphrase Shakespeare: so much sound and so much fury…signifying nothing.
Yet God is not silent this Christmas. As believers, we have a Gospel to live, to proclaim and to transform the world. We have the privilege of affirming the words spoken at today’s dawn Mass:
A light will shine on us this day: the Lord is born for us.
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
A light will shine on us this day: the Lord is born for us.
Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.
A light will shine on us this day: the Lord is born for us.
Because Christ has come as a savior for all peoples, we have hope, and we can carry that hope to our most needy neighbors. We are his light to a dark, dreary world.
On that note, I’d like to wish a very merry Christmas to all our Cross Catholic Outreach donors, volunteers and ministry partners around the world who are keeping alive the hope of Emmanuel, “God with us,” this season. May you and your families be blessed!
-Tony M.