- Don’t put up a Christmas tree
or Christmas lights before Dec. 24
- Don’t sing Christmas carols
before Dec. 24
- Don’t get too busy; Advent is a
time of reflection
- Don’t go to the mall (or
Amazon.com) too often; don’t commercialize the season
- Don’t pay too much attention to Santa Claus; focus instead on the “real” St. Nicholas
Is there something inherently wrong
in these activities? Catholics have a well-deserved reputation for our spirit
of celebration. From a Catholic worldview all of life and creation is always
and everywhere filled with the presence of God. Scripture tell us when God
created he counted everything as good. Therefore everything we encounter helps
us to see the love of God. We can shop, go caroling, eat fruit cake, exchange
presents, raise a glass, feed the hungry, and comfort the lonely doing it all
in the name of Jesus Christ.
It’s the most wonderful time of
year! Yes, it’s wonderful, because you “wonder” how on earth you’re going to
get through it! Every commercial and storefront reminds us, “Tis the season to
be jolly.” But maybe just maybe things aren’t so wonderful and jolly. As the
nights get longer and air gets colder and gray, the possibility of depression
and anxiety gets stronger too. December is like a tempest of activity and
emotion; at times beautiful, at times difficult, stressful, and painful. The
reality is that just like the innkeepers, I might respond to Mary and Joseph
who came looking for a place to rest, “I’m sorry but there’s no room in the
“inn” of my life for Jesus right now.”
Thinking that everyone else is jolly
and having a Hallmark Christmas only adds to the sadness and isolation. Perhaps
someone you loved died and Christmas is just not the same anymore. Or this is
the year that the kids are spending Christmas with the in-laws. You cringe
thinking about your relatives; they're not exactly icons of the Holy
Family. There is sibling rivalry, anger, and jealousy; relatives who are
too lazy to help with the dinner or who drink too much. Then you palpitate
worrying about the arguments at the dinner table over politics and religion.
All families are dysfunctional. It’s
never a question of whether our family is dysfunctional; it is only a question
of how bad is it? Virginia Wood, an English comedian, was quoted as
saying, “It will be a traditional Christmas, with presents, crackers, door
slamming, and people bursting into tears.” Perhaps Jenny Abrams sums it up
best: “Christmas, When Relatives Attack!”
God joins our dysfunctional family. Bishop Barron highlights just a few figures from
Jesus' family tree. The opening lines of Matthew’s Gospel are a listing Jesus’
genealogy -- the 42 generations stretching from Abraham to Christ. God had a
mother, grandmother, cousins, great-aunts, and weird uncles. Jesus was part of
a family that was somewhat dysfunctional with a mix of good and bad, saints and
sinners, and glorious and notorious.
Take for example, Ruth, an ancestor
of Jesus. Ruth wasn’t an Israelite, but rather a Moabite, in other words a
foreigner. How many of us feel like foreigners in our own family? Then there is
Rahab, who was a prostitute living in Jericho. I’m sure Rahab never planned on
her life turning out as it did. How many of us feel like Rahab? Jesus came from
Ruth and Rahab and he was pleased to be their relative.
The good news of Christmas is that
God pushes into our dysfunctional family even though like so many of our
ancestors, we are flawed and broken. God loved us so much that he sent is only
son to be Emmanuel. Emmanuel literally means “God is with us.” God is with us
in all that is joyful and good and beautiful. God is with us too in the midst
of tangled relationships, in the midst of loneliness, in the midst of sickness,
and in the midst of grief. In the Sunday readings during Advent Isaiah boldly
speaks words of hope in our feelings of despair, announcing God’s promise of a
day when enemies will become friends and all forms of violence will cease.
Advent is the best time to remember
that it all starts with God’s action. We might think that this time during
Advent is about us going in search for Jesus. There is a Gospel story of Jesus,
tired from his journey, sat down at the well. A woman of Samaria came to
draw water and Jesus said, “Give me a drink.” The Catechism (2560) explains
that Jesus asks for water to reveal God’s desire for us. God is pursuing us.
God thirsts for us. God has made us for Himself to share in his love and his
life.
The Church gives us the season of
Advent not as someTHING else for us “to do.” But rather each Advent is a
new beginning. Just as a new year starts for the Church, each Advent is an
opportunity for us to open our hearts anew to receive God’s grace.
Grace is a spiritual power that God
gives us. When God gives his grace, a strengthening occurs. Think about it.
God’s grace is so powerful; it created the world out of nothing. God’s grace
raised Jesus from the dead. This grace that God offers us has the power to heal
and transform us from broken and dysfunctional people into a whole, free,
and loving person. The story of Jesus’ healing of the hemorrhaging woman
reveals the power of grace. As Jesus was traveling with a large crowd, we meet
a woman who for 12 years was afflicted with hemorrhages. She heard of this man,
Jesus, and decides to take a risk. “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be
cured.” As soon as she touched him she is healed. Jesus aware that power
had gone out from him turned around in the crowd and asked, ““Someone touched
me; for I perceive that power has gone forth from me.”
Our lives are fractured by past
hurts, resentments, loss, and disappointments. Jesus offers peace and
salvation. In Mark’s Gospel there is a blind man known
to the church as Bartimaeus who sits by the roadside begging. When he heard the
noise of the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, 'Jesus
of Nazareth is passing by.' Bartimaeus begins to yell at the top of his lungs
for Jesus. He kept shouting for Jesus even though the crowds told him to be
quiet. Jesus stops and orders the man to be brought to him. When he came near,
Jesus asked him, 'What do you want me to do for you?' 'Lord, I want to see,' he
replied."
Imagine for a moment
that Jesus comes near to you and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” What do you truly long for, thirst for this Christmas? What
are you seeking? What are your dreams that you want to share with Jesus? What
are the wounds that hold you back from dreaming? Tell him. Jesus has the power
to heal your wounds.
We
can use this time in Advent to become more alert to the ways God is “gracing”
our lives. God is there when you’re in a conversation with your mother-in-law
planning Christmas dinner; God is there when you are negotiating that tug of
war for the last toy on the shelf; God is there when you are having a heart to
heart with your child managing their "wish list" expectations. God is
always touching our hearts through the families we live in, the chores that we
do, and the struggles we live. 