Christmas Chaos

In Santaland Diaries, humorist David Sedaris describes what it was like to be an elf in New York at Macy’s Department Store during Christmas.  Here, he portrays a photo op with Santa that didn’t quite go as planned:

 “Tonight, I saw a woman slap and shake her crying child. She yelled: ‘Rachel, get on that man's lap and smile or I'll give you something to cry about.’ Then she sat Rachel on Santa's lap and I took the picture, which supposedly means on paper, that everything is exactly the way it's supposed to be - that everything is snowy and wonderful.”

Christmas cards often portray a world that’s perfectly ordered.   But, the reality is often the opposite.  Christmas reveals chaos:  family tensions, financial struggles, holiday stress, winter weather woes and delayed flights.

As our liturgies remind us, Christmas and chaos have always gone hand in hand.  The circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus were anything but what we would consider perfectly ordered.  God chose to be born anyway, into the chaos of what it means to be human.   On Sunday, we wrap up the liturgical season of Advent-Christmas-Epiphany. Our liturgies have assured us that Emmanuel, God, is with us.  That means that God continues to be with us in our chaos, not only at Christmastime, but all year long!

Now, it's our turn to assure others.  As writer and theologian Howard Thurman explains, it’s the gift that keeps on giving:

When the song of the angels is stilled
When the star in the sky is gone
When the kings and princes are home
When the shepherds are back with their flock
The real work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner
To rebuild the nations
To bring peace among all
To make music in the heart
and, I might add, to comfort crying children who are afraid of Santa Claus.  Amen.

Words that Count

As a former intern coordinator in Washington D.C., I was  continually amused  at what I saw:  young people, barely out of high school, with 2, 3 and 4 page resumes!!!!  It brought me back  to my own college days.   I’ll never forget the words of one of my professors who said, “The greater your credentials, the shorter your resume will be.”  He was right.  The more we do in life, the less we need to say.   This philosophy doesn’t only apply to resumes.   The wisest persons are usually those of very few words.  

Mary is portrayed by the gospel writers as a person of very few words, yet she became the Mother of God.  Sunday's  Solemnity celebrates and honors Mary’s role as the Mother of God.   Though the Church begins the new year by honoring Mary, she figures prominently throughout the liturgical year.  In the United States, half of the holy days of obligation are celebrated in honor of Mary:  January 1^st, August 15^th (Assumption), and December 8^th (Mary’s Immaculate Conception).    Dozens of other days, including most Saturdays in Ordinary Time, are marked to honor  Mary or some aspect of her life.   A devotion to Mary may have started as early as the third century.   After the Church Council of Ephesus in 431, many churches were built in Mary’s name, and a number of  liturgies honoring her developed.   By the Middle Ages,  a strong devotion to Mary was expressed in art, pilgrimages and prayer.  Prayers such as the Angelus, the Hail Mary and the Memorare all emerged during this time.   All of this for a woman of few words.

Mary didn’t need to say a whole lot.  Her “yes” said it all.   This Solemnity helps us to reflect on that. May we begin this new year like Mary, by saying yes to bearing God in our actions and words, no matter how few.  Amen.

Hodie, Christus Natus Est, Today, Christ is born!

The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday some Protestant churches got a bad rap for not having any services on Christmas Day.  That may change this year, according to at least one survey.  A recent study, conducted by LifeWay Research, showed that out of 1,000 randomly selected Protestant pastors, 91 % plan to have services on Christmas Day, though they are expecting low turnouts.   They are not alone.   No matter which Christian denomination is polled, it seems that the religious observance of Christmas has shifted from Christmas Day to Christmas Eve.

However, it wasn’t always this way.  Since the earliest centuries, the Church has always celebrated multiple Masses at Christmas.  In Jerusalem and Rome, these Masses were celebrated on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the places that had a historical or theological connection to the birth of Jesus.  Therefore, worshipers typically went to ALL of the liturgies, rather than choosing one or the other.  This is one reason the prayers and readings are different at each of the Christmas liturgies.  Looking closely at the gospels, we can see a gradual progression of the events of Christ’s Birth:

Mass at the Vigil: (Christmas Eve):  Matthew 1:1-25, The genealogy of Jesus

Mass during the Night: (Midnight Mass) Luke 2:1-14, The angels announce the birth of the savior

Mass at Dawn:  Luke 2:14, The shepherds went to see the baby Jesus lying in the manger

Mass during the Day:  John 1:1-18, The Word was made flesh.

The gospel that is proclaimed on Christmas Day (John 1:1-18)  is the same gospel that was proclaimed at the earliest Christmas liturgies.  It is this gospel which offers the fullest meaning of what we celebrate at Christmas.  It reminds us that Christmas is not simply about the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus, 2000 years ago, but rather that God became flesh and lives with us now, today, forever.  That’s good news, no matter on what day Christmas is celebrated.  Amen!

Stillness

Many years ago, I was vacationing in the Western United States.  I remember looking up at the night sky near Moab, Utah.  I had never seen so many stars before.   There were billions of them.   The sky was like an umbrella of cosmic radiance.    It was so clear and so beautiful, it was as if the entire universe was frozen in stillness.   Southwestern skies are a stargazer’s dream.  The skies are clearer there, in part, because of an absence of light pollution.  It seems the farther we get from artificial light, the more we can see real light, in this case, the stars.

The season of Advent beckons us to move away from whatever “artificial” lights   prevent us from seeing Jesus, the true light, more clearly.  John the Baptist showed us how to do this.  He humbled himself, knowing that one greater than he was coming.  John’s words, “He must increase; I must decrease,” are echoed in the cosmos.   We celebrate the feast of John the Baptist in late June around the summer solstice, which heralds the beginning of shorter days and longer nights.  On the other hand, we celebrate the feast of the birth of Christ around the winter solstice, the beginning of shorter nights and longer days.

Indeed, we (in the Northern hemisphere) are a few days away from the winter solstice, when the earth is tilted farthest from the sun, giving us the year’s shortest day and longest night.  The name “solstice” is derived from the Latin sol, meaning sun and sistere, meaning to stand still.  During the solstice, the sun stands still.  It virtually comes to a stop before reversing direction.

As we approach the winter solstice and the final days of Advent, may we still our hearts to see more clearly the Christ among us, that, we too might be caught up in the cosmic dance, radiant with hope and peace.  Amen.

True Joy

In the current economic downturn, many of those who have lost jobs have been forced to abandon their  line of work and consider new opportunities.   Some have even gone on to further their education in entirely new fields.   Whether we are in mid-life and having to re-evaluate our current vocation, or fresh out of college and just beginning a job search, we inevitably have to ponder this question:  What brings me joy?   It is, after all, joy that will often make the difference between work that is ho-hum and work that is satisfying. 

Joy is often made synonymous with happiness.  But, true joy goes deeper.  Joy brings about a sense of inner peace, even in the midst of external chaos.  Joy is able to hold the good and the bad in tandem instead of in tension.   Joy is the assurance that all is well and that all shall be well.

Each liturgy immerses us in true joy.   Each liturgy, as a remembrance of the dying and rising of Jesus, holds both death and resurrection in tandem.   Each liturgy then, gives us the assurance that all is well and that all shall be well, even in the midst of chaos, even in the face of death.

On the third Sunday of Advent especially, the liturgy encourages us to reflect on the meaning of joy as we celebrate Gaudete Sunday.   The word Gaudete is Latin for “Rejoice.”  Gaudete Sunday takes its name from the first word of Sunday’s entrance antiphon which reads:  “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say rejoice.” 

As we continue our journey this Advent, may we reflect on what brings us true joy, whether at work, at play or in prayer.   Meanwhile, here are a few “joyous” quotes to start us off:

Joy is the noblest human act – Thomas Aquinas

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls – Mother Teresa  

Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Amen!