The world and the Christian celebrate Christmas in nearly opposite ways. For the world, Christmas starts when the Halloween decorations come down and the name of the game is to live Christmas full tilt and peter out on Boxing Day.
For the Christian, we prepare for Christ’s coming. Because Christ will come to us either in his second coming or in our particular judgment after death. Christmas itself however, all eight days of it, is meant to be about joy incarnate (literally!).
When we criticize “the world,” we must know (and truly own) that we accuse ourselves of missing the point as well. We are lumped in there, too. It’s not about looking at how backwards everyone else has it. It’s about asking ourselves questions about why we do what we do.
Why do we circle back on this holiday once a year and do the same things every year as if it were “just another Christmas”? What is the point of spending so much time, energy, and money on one day? The more we look at the nature of Christmas and what it means that God hurled himself into human history “at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold,” as the St. Andrew Christmas novena so beautifully suggests, the more we see and understand that “the fullness of time” will arrive for each one of us.
When we read about Jesus’ genealogy each Advent, it is easy to daydream a bit with all of the long names and tricky pronunciations. The deeper reason for revisiting Our Lord’s lineage each year is because it reinforces the purpose and intentionality of the incarnation. We read that there are exactly 14 generations between Abraham and David then exactly 14 between David and the Babylonian exile and then a final 14 generations between the Babylonian exile and Jesus. Details are important to God. Time is important to God.
Rich or poor, we are at the mercy of time. Try as we might to “kill time” or to distract ourselves from its passing, we cannot escape its logbook – literally clockwork – written into the lines on our faces when we look in the mirror. Suffering happens in real-time. There is a precise moment of death and there is also a time that gets written on each baby’s birth certificate. Certain painful seasons feel like they will never end. Grief can make time feel swollen and stagnant. Joy can make us feel like we might miss something wonderful if we take the time to blink.
A hard thing to get over is the feeling of having wasted a season; a stage in our little one’s childhood, caring for an ailing parent, listening to someone who needs advice. When someone is sick, we have the unique chance to love them in their dependency. When someone has good news to share, we only get one chance to receive it with charity and attentiveness. The season will pass swiftly; they all do. We find it so difficult to live in the moment fully and fruitfully and yet the moment is the treasure.
Why is time precious? Because it is running out. Jesus compares us more than once to sheep worthy of pity. We are frightened and we follow anyone who looks like they know what they are doing. We buy the stuff that our neighbours recommend. We look around to see what people are wearing and adjust accordingly. We don’t want to appear overly religious to worldly colleagues and friends.
Jesus knew that we needed help. The idea of our lives being so fleeting and many of us being so impressionable was enough for him to come and give us a few pointers.
When people asked Jesus why his disciples ate and drank – and generally had a great time – while John’s disciples fasted, Jesus’ words in response should resonate profoundly with us in these moments of the high Feast of Christmas.
He told them very simply “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast.”
The first miracle was at a party. Jesus Christ laughed and danced and had fun with his friends. Can we show the world something of the joy that is set aside for Christmas? For everything there is a season and this is the season of the bridegroom. Emmanuel, God is with us! Happy feasting and merry Christmas!
Click here to send us a letter to the editor about this or any other article.
