The miracle of Christmas is too enormous, too potent,
too real to be compacted into a few hours of recognition regardless of the
depth of the prayer, or of depth of the celebration.
And so, Christmas is a season and not a just a single day. It is a gift that should be continually
unwrapped, continually cherished in surprise and delight as long as there are
hearts to know love. It is a concept
captured long ago by the poet, Alexander Pope:
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Short views we take,
nor see the lengths behind, |
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But, more advanced,
behold with strange surprise |
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New distant scenes of
endless science rise! |
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So pleased at first the
towering Alps we try, |
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Mount o’er the vales,
and seem to tread the sky; |
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The eternal snows
appear already past, |
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And the first clouds
and mountains seem the last; |
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But those attained, we
tremble to survey |
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The growing labours of
the lengthened way; |
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The increasing prospect
tires our wandering eyes, |
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Hills peep o’er hills,
and Alps on Alps arise! |
Pope was speaking of learning, a feeding of the mind; but, what is learning other than a ‘coming to know’? And what ‘coming to know’ is more vital to the breath of a soul than to come to know the One who brings life, purpose and love? The answer is never found in, mind or heart; the answer is at all times, and in all times, mind and heart. And so, confident that there can never be too much Christmas, I offer one more reflection as this year’s season of Christmas draws towards its end, only to begin again.
Christmas Eve Day was overcast this year, as if a thick
gray wool blanket was pulled right up to the sun’s chin, and weather reports
called for the clouds to remain for several more days. So much more the surprise then, when we pulled
into the driveway from Mass, and exiting the car, we saw that the clouds had been
pried open. The edge of a cloudbank was
visible to the east, and to the north, but overhead was deep and dark and
speckled with stars. Like the shepherds,
you couldn’t help but look up at the wonder of the Transcendent. We strained to hear the angel choirs, certain
that they were/are there; even though our hearing was earthbound.
It was a fitting sky to ponder the immensity of the
gift received this night. It is a gift
foretold and yet undreamed of. It is a
gift as wide as the heavens and yet tiny enough to be held. Each soul should ponder again and again the
significance of the meaning of its very existence that would be nothing, but for
the baby.
The very forces of nature that still persist at work here are but a
shadow of the persistent forces of universal creation. Within ourselves we have the ability to
discover all of the myriads of whats and all of the hows.
But nowhere within can be found
the discovery of the why. The why is a
singular and simple answer that is beyond the limits of knowledge and even
beyond the limitlessness of our imaginations.
We could not come to know:
To fear God, but not be afraid of God
To dare to approach, beyond trembling, to deepening
desire
Our call into relationship beyond Creator and creature,
to one of family
An invitation to hold in our own arms the One who holds
all in His hands
To appreciate how deeply we, each of us, is loved
The yearning to share that love with others
To be welcomed into a communion of an eternity
None of these gifts would be even conceivable, let
alone attainable, but for the Baby – but for this Baby.
May the Christ Child continue to come to you; may He
continue to remain with you; now and forever.
And may you always in your heart know the joy and blessing of Christmas; in the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
His Peace <><
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