Grace Notes 2022-01-05

“Tis the Season to be jolly!” Oh, is it? At the risk of being regarded as snarky, I offer a reflection on what is off kilter with our culture’s celebration of the Christmas Season.

For starters, it is a Season. With respect to our heritage, it is a Season of Twelve Days. So, it is more than a simple celebration of an important birthday. Were it that, a single day might be what’s called for? But it is a celebration of a central mystery of the Christian Faith. I speak here of the Incarnation. This is, it is a celebration of the mystery of the Son of God assuming our human nature. It is the birth of our Savior. It is the means of our salvation. It is the necessary prelude to the Cross and the Empty Tomb.

What is also amiss is the fact that we confuse a sublime joy and great hope with the attempt at being jolly, as in having a jolly good time. This point is repeatedly brought home to me when I hear of a ‘Blue Christmas Service’ held especially for those having suffered a recent loss. I applaud such services. People grieving are not likely to feel jolly. The only thing I lament is that we need a special service for this. I think the regular Christmas Services should be well tuned for offering comfort and hope.

When we are attentive to the Nativity narratives, we catch the sense of light coming into a very dark world. This is not the full dawn of the new day. Rather it is a lamp in our present darkness (cf. 2Pe 1:19). The darkness continues, but now not without hope and comfort!

Think off just two of the feasts commemorated during the Twelve Days: The Martyrdom of St. Stephen on December 26, and the Slaughter and Martyrdom of the Holy Innocents on December 28. Christmas brings the comfort of hope and a sublime joy amid tribulations in a dark world. 

Since You Asked…

What is the Significance of The Baptism of Our Lord?

John the Baptist came proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Since Jesus was sinless he had no need to be forgiven. The human race, however, is sinful. And our need for forgiveness is great indeed. In explaining why he should be baptized by John, Jesus said, it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. In other words, Jesus came to stand with us and accomplish on our behalf all that God requires of us, including repentance and the forgiveness of sins! At his baptism there was a revealing (an epiphany) of the Holy Trinity. And at his baptism, Jesus took our humanity which he assumed in the Incarnation and lowered it in the cleansing water of Baptism. His public ministry would commence with this public rite.