It was December 24, 1968, Christmas Midnight Mass. I was home for the holydays (yes, “holy”) from my final year in seminary. As a deacon I was vested to assist at the service. Thanks to Vatican II the altar was facing the people and I was seated in front of the altar facing the congregation as the old Monsignor stepped to the pulpit to deliver his Christmas sermon. He began by asking everyone to stand and sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. I was shocked and embarrassed and so, it seemed, were the people.
What an idiot I was! Why in the world were we gathering in the first place? What is Christmas except the celebration of Jesus’ birth. If it were not for that, the only reason I would have been home was for a planned winter break. And for everyone else in that congregation and in the world December 25 would be just another day on the calendar to be lived out as any other day.
As the old reminder reminds, Jesus is the reason for the season. He is now and was back then. Somehow I had forgotten about that even though I was assisting in a celebration that had nothing to do with Christmas trees and Christmas presents and all the rest but had everything to do with the celebration of Jesus’ birth. How could I? Where was my head? What was I thinking back then?
And today? Arlena and I walk through our neighborhood at night and marvel at all the decorations. I haven’t seen anything that reminds me of Jesus and everything that reminds me of Santa Claus. My guess is that if it hadn’t been for this virus, there would be those going to court asking local communities to take down manger scenes because they are a propagation of a certain faith. How dare they at Christmas!
Okay, okay. Enough of this rant because, in all honesty, the celebration of Christmas and what we are gathering for, wherever we gather, is, underneath it all, a celebration of Jesus’ birth. As another saying reminds us, there is nothing we can do to take Christ out of Christmas. Back then I was part of a Christ Mass, a ChristMass celebration. And the truth is, the Christmas holiday is still a holyday even if it is not acknowledged by the vast majority and is often forgotten by idiots like me back then.
My old pastor reminded me back then and still reminds me today whenever I think of that learning moment if my life all those years ago that I must never forget what Christmas in essence is all about. It is easy to do, as we all know. And my guess is that come Christmas morning we may forget what the real reason is for why we are gathering. If we play Christmas carols as background music that day or during this season, one song we won’t hear is “Happy Birthday, Jesus.”
My hope and prayer for you and for me is that maybe just for a moment on Christmas Day amid our celebration we might stop and silently say, “Happy birthday, Jesus.”
No comments:
Post a Comment