In recent years, many have drifted from the practice of the Faith. Paradoxically, during yuletide, these individuals decorate their homes with Christmas lights. For those of us steadfast in keeping Christ in Christmas, this holiday is a prime opportunity to reconnect with these fallen-away souls.
Consider inviting some of these neighbors over for carols and cookies this Christmas. Amidst singing and sweets, you may discuss faith, encouraging them to return to church and Holy Mass. At the very least, renewed friendships can be the first step towards a stronger community.
Christmas, a holy day, is a celebration of great contradictions and paradoxes. The most significant paradox is God sending His Son into a dark and undeserving world. The small gifts we exchange at Christmas pale in comparison to God’s gift of a redeemer.
Another striking paradox of Christmas is God’s Son, the King of Kings, born in poverty in a stable. Despite His humble birth, kings pay Him homage, offering precious gifts. In God’s gift of a redeemer born in poverty, both the rich and the poor come to adore — a poignant paradox.
Fast-forward to the present. A paradox for us in the Northern Hemisphere is celebrating Christmas at the start of winter, with short days and bitter cold. Would it not be easier to celebrate in July when travel is simpler and decorating your home is more comfortable without snow and ice?
As we ponder Christmas paradoxes old and new, we encounter God transcending the world’s limits. In the Christ child born in poverty, we encounter God Himself. In darkness and cold, eternal light is present, and despite the world’s evils, God reigns! Our joy as Christians knows no bounds at Christmas, for in the Christ child, Heaven’s gates are readied for our redemption.
Reflect on your fondest Christmases. Despite the world’s evil, did God paradoxically show you how much He loved and cared for you?
My fondest memory of Christmas was when I was five. We all had the mumps — my four siblings and my dad. My mother was the only one who did not come down with the illness, as she had the mumps when she was a girl.
On that Christmas morning, my mom was the only one who went to Mass. The rest of us were entrusted to my dad’s care — which we loved. Our dad worked long hours, so we normally didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him. That Christmas in which Dad stayed home with us for the entire day was stupendous!
That Christmas, Santa got me a shiny red toy fire truck with an extension ladder that could extend a full 30 inches. As I write this, my eyes tear, thinking about my dad, who has been gone for a few years now. That Christmas, after we opened up our presents, my dad played with my brothers and me on the floor. This 6-foot-3-inch man was on his knees on the wood floor, playing with our toy trucks and plastic soldiers. We had a ball.
At one point, I rode my toy fire truck with its big extension ladder into the kitchen. My father wisely followed and watched as I found that I could extend the fire truck’s ladder up to the top of the gas stove.
My father intervened at that moment, saying that young boys should not play with the gas jets on the stove. However, he went along with my idea of tackling the fires on top of the gas stove. He operated the burners on the stove, letting me pretend that my plastic firefighter on the truck’s ladder was extinguishing the flames with his hose. All the while I played with my fire truck, my dad explained how water extinguishes a fire and so forth.
What a paradox! My fondest Christmas was one of the least religious (in the strict sense of the term). Only my mom went to church, and yet all of us celebrated Christ’s birth with joy. It was full of joy and cheer, despite us having to spend the entire day indoors.
Consider some favorite Christmas movies that portray great paradoxes in the characters’ lives. In It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey discovers divine intervention just when he contemplates suicide. In Elf, Buddy, an adopted human who’d been living in the elf world, finds his father and a wife back in the human world — all the while still living as an elf.
This Christmas, brush aside all the gloom and darkness of this fallen world. It’s a passing world anyway, and most of us worry too much. This Christmas, spend some time on your knees with your family and thank God for the gift of His Son to redeem us all.
Merry Christmas!