Religion and politics, although quite popular in the blogosphere, is not something you will normally see me talk about. Everyone has an opinion and a belief that they hold close to their heart, and I just like to leave it at that. Well, I came across a blog this morning that included a thought provoking Christmas Eve homily written by a priest from Ontario, Canada. I think it touches on a feeling that I have heard a lot of people express as of late so I wanted to share it with you.
St. John the Evangelist, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Christmas Eve 2007-12-24
The other day as I was walking through one of our local shopping
malls a woman at the gift wrap counter sighed wearily and said “Isn’t
terrible what’s happened to Christmas? She was looking at the longs
lines of people waiting to have their gifts wrapped, some waiting
patiently, others impatient and grumbling. “ Isn’t it terrible what’s
happened to Christmas,” She muttered.
We know what she meant. The birth of Jesus, the coming into the
world of the Word made flesh, all this has been nearly lost in the
hustle and bustle of crowds doing the last minute shopping, the long
lines at grocery stores, malls and the heavy traffic. In our society
we no longer count the days of Advent, rather we count the shopping
days till Christmas. The angels song of “Glory to God in the highest
is now merchandising background music. We wish we could get back to
the real meaning of Christmas.
When we talk about getting back to the "REAL” meaning Christmas,
what we mean of course is the “Religious meaning.” After all Christmas
is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Saviour. Christmas is
about what God is doing in and for the world, the joy, the peace, the
grace, and the hope that the birth of Jesus brings into our lives. It
seems like a failure to us that Christmas must now take place in a
materialistic environment, which obscures its genuine splendour. We
yearn to go back to the real, religious meaning of Christmas.
As strange as it may sound, whenever we think this way, whenever we
long to have Christmas as pure and holy and innocent as the scenes on
out Christmas cards, we risk the danger of missing the whole point of
Christmas. Luke is careful to remind us that the birth of Jesus took
place not on a holy day, but on a work day. Jesus was not born during
a worship service but during a tax census. The day Jesus was born was
a time, so to speak, of the ringing of cash registers, filing of T-4
slips, long lines, and crowds so thick that there was not a hotel room
to be found. It was not priests but shepherds, the outcast in society,
who were working in the fields that heard the angels’ song.
This does not mean that the true meaning of Christmas cannot be
trampled and turned into a commercial venture. What it does mean is
that God entered the real world of flesh and blood in Jesus Christ.
God did not choose to enter a safe world of silent sanctuaries and
hallowed spaces, but the rough and tumble world of everyday living. If
the news of Christmas is only fit for the religious page of our local
paper then its power is limited. But Luke wants us to know that the
birth of this child takes place in the middle of life’s chaos and is to
be heralded in everyday living, bringing the peace and joy that is
needed there.
So the next time you hear the music of the angels in the shopping
malls, remember, this is how the world first heard it. We can be
assured that the message of the angels is truly for us and our world.
“ For to you is born this day a Saviour.”
Amen
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