I am often torn around the Christmas holidays. On the one hand, I
experience much jubilant joy and cheerful spirit among people. On the other, I
also go through difficult moments of loneliness, loss, and sadness. I am not
alone on this predicament. The holidays allows many of us to be in touch with the
loss of loved ones recently deceased, the pain of family members seriously
sick, the weight of financial worries, the separation of close relationships
and the awkwardness of strained ones. While we celebrate God already-with-us,
we also become more aware that God seems not-yet-with-us. On Christmas Day
yesterday, the Pope urged for an end to the bloodshed in Syria, just as he did
pleaded last year.
The readings around Christmas point to this already-here but
not-yet coming of God. In two days, we celebrate the feast of innocent children
massacred because Herod wanted to kill the infant Jesus. Today, we remember
Stephen, the first Christian martyr. The promise in the crib and the sacrifice
on the cross are closely intertwined. Love has a price tag. God in Jesus came
as a baby born in a manger and died as a criminal on the cross, loving
consistently. God is not ashamed of human lowliness or messiness, she entered
into it. Moreover, God often comes as an unexpected, uninvited, often
unrecognized guest. We are not always ready for this coming; yet we can be
receptive and allow it to dawn within us. A friend recently shared that our
hope lies not in something, not in some belief or idea, but in someone. In
someone who often surprises us, entering our brokenness and magnifying our joy,
desiring to stay, whispering peace, “I am here.”
While we cannot always be ready for this, we can be receptive.
Let’s continue to
ask for the grace to be receptive. Allow God to surprise us through difficult
as well as positive moments and feelings throughout these festive days.
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