Vocation Awareness
One of the few times in the world when most people seem to be more angelic than corruptible human beings is in the singing of Christmas carols together. Silent night, Holy night, yes, we know by heart our favorite hymns of Christmas joy and peace.
This joy and peace is not just for the children’s sake, it is not just a bunch of hoopla that comes and goes every year, it is the true joy and peace that has come for everyone as it is was first ushered in through the angelic voice of the Archangel Gabriel to the virgin Mary, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”(Lk 1:35) This is way bigger than Santa Claus, we are talking the Savior of all mankind, yet too often our children are all well too versed in commercialized gimmicks of Santa Claus and underversed in knowing the only true meaning of Christmas, Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, the birthday of our Savior who has come to redeem us in his sacrificial love.
Then again, it is true that many people experience the “holiday blues”, but I must ask everyone, “What is so dark and blue about the celebration of the Prince of Peace and the Light of the world who has come to us?” Yes, many people have sad memories of a loved one passing away during this time of the year, but should we not be celebrating their new birth into eternal life because of the birth and salvation that comes to us in Jesus? Others have the blues because they are separated from family over the holidays, which is certainly understandable especially for our military service men and women and their families who already take on so many other sacrifices for the good of our country and of the world. Yet, in all Catholic churches throughout the world, and in most protestant churches, we get to hear our favorite Christmas carol’s being sung by choirs and congregations in near angelic voices proclaiming the birth of Jesus with lyrics like, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare Him room..”
As I see it, Christmas is about the reception of the Prince of Peace in our hearts, a perfect time to draw more souls to the conversion and belief that Jesus is the Christ who has come as the Son of God to bring an end to all violence as he has come to save us from our sins (Mt:1:21). So, what are we willing to do to fully cooperate with Jesus in bringing peace and joy into our world? Are we eager to stand for peace and justice in the many human rights violations throughout the world? Are we eager to be more spiritual than political? Are we eager to advance Christian unity under the banner of truth and peace? Are we eager to defend family values, live them, and share them? Are we eager to visit and assist the sick, the elderly, and the imprisoned on a frequent basis? Are we eager to defend all human life from the womb to the tomb? Are we eager to encourage families to pray together and thus stay together? Are we eager to share our faith in Jesus Christ to others? Are we eager about helping our children, teenagers, and young single adults see the equal need and the blessings to the family and church in remaining single, or entering religious life, or becoming married?
I ask these questions for the specific reason that we are in a major crisis in all of the above areas and that at times it is as if Jesus, our Prince of Peace and Lord of Lords, had never come into this world. Still, when the joy and peace of Christ reigns in our hearts, we are compelled and eager to respond. As Jesus reigns in more hearts, there will be more young men and women considering the religious life, there will be a renewal of evangelization and conversions to Jesus, there will be considerable less divorce and happier marriages, there will be an end to abortion and sexual activity outside of marriage in the Christian community, the sick and the elderly will be treasured and visited, while the imprisoned will be seen as redeemable, there will be an equal respect to all human life, and people will see themselves as spiritual beings with a purpose and responsibility that extends beyond this world and into the next.
We are certainly making small strides in each of these areas stated above but let us make larger strides by interiorizing the lyrics of our favorite Christmas hymns that capture the splendor of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. May our hearts be burning within us, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord! Merry Christmas!!!
