God’s Christmas Gift

Christmas

Peace and blessings to everyone! I wish you all a Merry Christmas—a joyous, holy and peace-filled Christmas.

A special “Welcome Home” to children back from school, from the Service, from your homes in distant cities. Welcome back to parents, grandparents, family and friends who have over the years moved away but have come home for the holidays. Welcome also to first-time visitors. May you experience all the rich blessings of Christ’s Nativity!

Back around 1987, before I ever felt a call to be a priest—or even a Catholic or a Christian, for that matter—I lived in Middletown, New Jersey, a suburb of New York City. My family and I were in the advertising agency business and we were doing very well, so we decided to do up Christmas in a really big way. My niece, Jennifer, was about 7 at the time. I remember many shopping trips to Toys-R-Us, F.A.O. Schwartz, Kay-Bee Toys and anyplace else we could think of. We bought everything we thought this little girl would like.

Christmas eve, we played Santa and started to haul out the gifts from their hiding places. We quickly filled the space under the tree… then around the tree… then throughout the living room… then up the landing into the hallway and into the parlor… then even on the stairs. There were so many presents that you could hardly walk.

Well, the next morning, Jenn came to the top of the stairs and rubbed her eyes in awe and disbelief. With great enthusiasm, she started to tear into package after package. But I’ll tell you, a 7-year-old just doesn’t have the stamina of a true gift-a-holic. After a mere three or four hours of this—and without making even a dent in the pile of loot—the poor child was in tears. I’ll never forget her cry. “Please! No more Christmas!”

That year, I learned that the expression is absolutely true that goes: you can have too much of a good thing. Before that, I always thought that more is better.

I know that you’re probably getting a lot of neat stuff for Christmas. Maybe the living room will be a disaster after all the boxes are pulled out from under the tree and ripped open. What will you get? The latest style of Levis or Calvin Kleins? Shirts from Old Navy or Abercrombie & Fitch? Maybe underwear from Dolce & Gabbana. Or maybe you’re into Ann Taylor or Victoria’s Secret—or even Carhartt. There’s a lot of great clothes we can put on our bodies.

Some of us don’t like others to buy us clothes. My sister still razzes me for buying her a too-confining suede gaucho outfit 25 years ago. I suppose if we’re still here in another 25 years, I’ll still be getting heck!

Maybe we get stuff for the house or garden or nifty new things for the kitchen. And then there are all kinds of toys and gadgets and amazing new electronics. We buy them for one another at Christmas and for ourselves the rest of the year.

But all this stuff from our family and friends aside, what did God get us for Christmas? Oh yes. He has gifts for us, too.

For starters, he gave us the gift of life itself a long time ago. I pray that we all appreciate how very precious this gift is.

He’s also given us another great gift: the promise of salvation and eternal life with him in heaven—and Lord knows, that’s a promise we should all be grateful for every single day.

And isn’t it funny? God didn’t deliver these gifts by means of a jolly old man in a furry red suit. He didn’t buy them in the mall or online or the outlet shops at Tuscola. No, he sent them with a tiny infant.

That infant only had enough days on this earth for a brief ministry, but somehow, its impact has lasted for a very long time—more than 2000 years so far. He is God’s beloved Son who keeps coming back, Christmas after Christmas, and sometimes in the most unlikely places and in the most unlikely persons.

But why a baby? God wants us to know that salvation shouldn’t be frightening or intimidating—and that it comes with a human touch. Isn’t that amazing? Just as much as God is totally God, totally divine—he’s also completely human. As human as you or me.

We can really relate to another human being. He speaks our language. He knows how we tick, so he can understand our weaknesses and even some of the really dumb things we sometimes do. And maybe best of all, he can see past all that stuff and love us, and even like us, just the same.

Thank God, our salvation doesn’t depend on our always being good—although, of course, being good is a very good thing to be. God is willing to forgive us, forget about even our worst failings, and move forward with a clean slate. All we have to do is apologize and ask. Why, God even gave us lots of simple ways to do that—like prayer, good deeds, the mass, confession, and all the other sacraments.

The gift of salvation doesn’t come in a big box with a beautiful bow, but it’s warmer than any fleece-lined, windproof, waterproof, micro-fiber jacket. It’s better than a cuddly blanket to comfort us when we’re lonely or to share with the people we love. God especially wants that. He wants us to get along and take care of each other.

This gift doesn’t come in designer colors or different sizes, but it’s the thing that gets us out of all the messes we so easily get ourselves into. One size seems to fit all… it always works… and there are not a lot of complicated instructions. No assembly required.

And perhaps best of all, the gift of salvation is freely offered to everybody—rich or poor, white or black, smart or slow, straight or gay, saint or sinner…

Yes, we should definitely enjoy all the blessings of Christmas—the family, the friends, the gifts given and received, the wonderful food and treats, the music and decorations, the joyful atmosphere… but it’s good to focus on what this festival day is really about. We should especially remember that we don’t need to devour one another and we don’t need to stuff our stockings so full that there’s not enough to go around.

Instead, let’s all do our best to spread the word that the greatest gifts of Christmas are free for the asking. Just ask and receive. No payments, no interest, no bills next month.

Dearest friends, may our newborn King truly bless you and fill you with his peace, his joy and his love on Christmas and always.

Where Is God?

The 4th Sunday of Advent
Today’s Readings: Mi 5: 1-4; Ps 80; Heb 10: 5-10; Lk 1: 39-45

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just a day away. I hope and pray that this holy season of Advent has been a good one for you… that in some way, you have drawn closer to God and feel his powerful presence in your life.

Not everyone has been so blessed, though. For some people, God still seems remote—or even totally absent. Maybe the cares and worries of the world are pressing upon them especially hard. Maybe they’re sad or depressed. Whatever the reason, I hope my words today will help a little so they can reconnect with our good and gracious Lord.

A few years ago, when my nephew, Simon, was eight years old, he wanted to ask me some questions about God. We were playing in his backyard, in Florida, under a tree. “Uncle Jeff?” he asked. “Where’s God?”

I asked him back, “What did you learn in Sunday school?”

He answered, “My teacher said that God is everywhere, so how come we don’t see him? I thought he was in heaven.”

I told Simon he was exactly right. So next he wanted to know where heaven is. This was getting tougher than a seminary theology exam!

“Well,” I started, “to begin with, nobody has ever seen God.” As soon as I said that, I knew that that would only confuse things more. He came right back at me: “If no one has ever seen God, how do you know there is a God?”

The kid was backing me into a corner. How do you explain a supernatural certainty of faith to an 8-year-old?

Just then, as I thought about how I was going to answer him, I spotted an ant scurrying across one of his toys lying in the grass. “Say,” I said. “Do you remember the last time I came to visit that we watched the ants making tracks through the grass all the way from the patio over to that tree?”

“I remember!” Simon said. “You said they went to the tree to get the sap.”

“That’s right! And there were a lot of dandelions in the grass, too. They were pretty and you wanted to pick them. And while we were watching the ants and looking at the flowers, you asked me if the dandelions could see the ants. Do you remember that?”

Simon nodded.

“And we decided,” I went on, “that the dandelions wouldn’t be able to see the ants, just because they were flowers and they don’t have eyes or a brain. If they could sense things at all, it would only be in the limited way of flowers. So even though the ants were all around them, they probably didn’t know it.”

Simon grinned and he piped in, “And then we wondered if the ants could see us.”

“Yeah. We talked about that, too, didn’t we? And we were pretty sure that the ants couldn’t see us, because they pretty much seemed to ignore us. We decided that for some unknown reason, we must have been outside what an ant can see and know… just as outside as the ant had been to the flower. Neither of them could see what was going on outside their own worlds.”

Simon furrowed his brow. “But we were so close to the ants,” he reminded me. “They even walked all over our sandals.”

“I know,” I said. “But still, they didn’t know we were there because we were outside what they were able to know.”

I could tell that Simon’s wheels were still turning. “But I asked you where God is. Where is he?”

So I said softly, “God is everywhere, just as your teacher told you. And where God is, there is heaven.”

I gave him a few moments to absorb that before I went on. “And you know what? Even though God is everywhere, we can’t see him for the same reason that the dandelions couldn’t see the ants, and the ants couldn’t see us. He is outside all the things a human being can see and understand. But just because we can’t see him doesn’t mean he isn’t there—any more than we’re not here because the ants can’t see us!”

Simon smiled as this understanding dawned. “OK, I get it now. You mean God is outside our world and that’s why we can’t see him—but he’s there really.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”

My dear friends—my fellow ants and dandelions! When God seems far away or like a figment of the church’s imagination, it’s good to remember that he is actually the “most real” and “most present” being in all the universe… the blind spot is ours. We don’t have trouble knowing that the wind is real, even though we can’t see it. We don’t have trouble believing in invisible viruses and microbes, especially when we catch something. And for the same reason, we shouldn’t think God away.

How blessed we are to take it on faith that our loving and merciful God is right here among us—always and everywhere. How blessed we are that we can set aside a season to celebrate the awesome day when he slipped into our human world, wrapped in human flesh, for us to see and adore. Let him into your mind and heart.

Or in the beautiful words of Elizabeth in today’s gospel, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled!”

Wake Up, Bear . . . It’s Christmas!

The 3rd Sunday of Advent
Today’s Readings: Zeph 3: 14-18; Isa 12: 2-6; Phil 4: 4-7; Lk 3: 10-18

There’s a cute holiday children’s book called Wake Up, Bear . . . It’s Christmas! It’s the story about a bear who decides that instead of hibernating one winter, he’s going to stay awake and see what Christmas is all about. Well, the cold and snow come along, and Bear gets very tired and sleepy. But our hero does manage to make it until midnight on Christmas Eve, when he meets Santa Claus who takes him along on his gift-delivery ride.

Christmas, of course, means that God has slipped into our world. “Emmanuel”—God is with us. Here’s right here on earth!

But just like Bear in the children’s book, as much as we’d like to stay awake and immerse ourselves in the wonder of Christmas, we often fall asleep. God knows that. It’s part of our nature to get all preoccupied with the stuff of life and forget about God. I guess this is just as much a part of our fallen human nature as hibernating is part of a bear’s nature. Yet again, God knows this, and he accepts us as we are. We even manage to bumble along on our own and get some things accomplished. God also knows, though, that to live fully and be all we can be, we must know God’s presence in our lives.

So, every now and then, God rattles us and wakes us up. And he has many ways of doing that.

For Christians, the life and work of Jesus have been God’s greatest wake-up call. Celebrating his birth each year is a reminder. In fact, there may be a blessing in disguise in the over-commercialization of Christmas. At least no one can miss it!

For our spiritual ancestors, God spoke through the prophets as a way to wake up his people, especially in times of trouble. Our first reading today comes from the short Old Testament book of Zephaniah the prophet. It is the 600’s B.C. The southern kingdom of Judah, and especially its capital city, Jerusalem, have become decadent and depraved. Idol-worship and injustice against the underclass are widespread. Through Zephaniah, God vows to inflict his terrible wrath—which actually came to be just a short time later, in 586 B.C., when the invading Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem and carried its leading citizens into captivity in Babylon.

Despite the gloom and doom, however, there is a promising ray of hope in Zephaniah. God has not, and will never, forget his covenant with Abraham. He will save a holy remnant. This is where we tune in today—in the last chapter of the prophecy, Chapter 3. Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully! Be glad and exult with all your heart! The Lord has removed the judgment against you. He has turned away your enemies. You have no further misfortune to fear. Fear not! Do not be discouraged! The Lord is in your midst, a mighty savior. He will renew you in his love.

If you think about it even just a little, you’ll clearly see that even the worst trials of life are a wake-up call to set things right. They are by no means signs of abandonment or condemnation by God. The wise folks among us have learned that God can use diseases like AIDS or cancer to reveal himself and say: Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

A few years ago, at just about this time of year, I had to bury an 18-year-old who got killed in a car wreck. The boy was drinking with his buddies . . . then as he headed home in the middle of the night, he took the icy roads too fast and wound up flying into a tree. He was a good kid. His family was devastated. His mother kept saying, Why? How could this happen? If only we could “rewind the tape” . . .

But what’s very important to remember is that even though God permitted this young man to die, it was not his will . . . any more than he wanted his own Son, Jesus, to suffer and die on the cross. No matter how great the tragedy appears, God will draw good out of it if we let him.

A sudden death, the diagnosis of a terminal illness, some other catastrophic loss—these remind us how fleeting and fragile life is and how much we cannot depend on the things of the present world. We can lose everything in the blink of an eye. But at the same time, we have to remember that life is a great treasure and very precious. Why do you think Jesus keeps telling us to love each other . . . to forgive each other . . . to be patient and merciful and tolerant of each other? Yes! Because he knows that we won’t last forever.

Maybe you sometimes wish, like that poor mother, that we could just rewind the tape. But we can’t. Life moves just in forward . . . sometimes in fast-forward. Every day is important and precious.

But, of course, when life is going well or even if life is just OK, we push these thoughts away. We forget that our God is in the world—always.

So loving Father that he is, God chooses to remind us every now and then. Amid the hustle and bustle of the season, he tugs at us—whether it’s when we see the lights and hear the carols and smell the Christmas cookies in the oven… or whether it’s in a hospital bed or even standing around an icy grave.

During this home stretch of Advent, listen and hear God calling: Wake up! I am with you! It’s Christmas!

Pray for More Love

The 2nd Sunday of Advent
Today’s Readings: Bar 5: 1-9; Ps 126; Phil 1: 4-6, 8-11; Lk 3: 1-6

When I was ordained a priest, there was a place in the ceremony where I had to go and kneel down in front of the bishop who was sitting on his throne in the cathedral in Peoria. He took my hands in his and asked me if I promised to be respectful and obedient to him and his successors. I said, “I do.” Then he looked me in the eye and said these powerful words: “May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.”

Like most of the words that Catholics use in the mass and in our prayers and blessings, this line is straight out of the bible. These are St. Paul’s words in Philippians 1:6—the words in our second reading today.

If you think about it, this is an incredible blessing… an amazing prayer. God began his good work in me. When? When I was ordained a deacon? When I accepted his invitation to go to seminary? When I converted and got baptized? When I was born? When I was conceived? Or maybe… when Christ died for me and bought me the chance for heaven 2,000 years before I was even a thought in my parents’ minds.

Whenever it was—and I guess the precision of the answer isn’t really all that important—God started something good that I could somehow share in… and my bishop was praying that this good would be brought to fulfillment—in other words, that I would make it safely to paradise.

That’s a pretty good blessing to receive, don’t you think? Wow!

Sometimes people tell me that they want to advance in the spiritual life but they’re not sure how to pray. Let me tell you, praying is the easiest thing in the world. If you’re in doubt about how to pray, just ask God for more love. The world needs it and so do we. Our loving prayers are the greatest gift we can give another person.

The verses we just heard in Philippians are actually a prayer written in prison by the apostle Paul for his cherished friends. That prayer continues to send love and blessings many centuries later—just the way I received it at my ordination.

And now I’d like to suggest how you might take this same prayer and use it as a wonderful gift of love to others.

With Christmas fast approaching, consider praying this prayer for everyone on your Christmas card and shopping list as your secret gift. Trust me in this: your life will never be the same and you will experience a more fulfilling Christmas season. Your prayer just might be the best Christmas gift your friends will ever receive. Make a note of the passage: Philippians 1: 4–11*. . . or go ahead and tear out the page from the missalette.

How does Paul pray for his friends? He prays for their love to abound, flourish and overflow in growing knowledge and discernment, wisdom and purity. As a loving friend and spiritual teacher, he asks God to help his friends every day of their lives, until the day of Jesus Christ’s return. He ends up by confidently asking God to motivate his friends to bring loving justice and righteousness to the world. He knew their lifestyles of loving activism and devotion would bring great glory and praise to God. This is holy boldness at its very best!

All of us—no matter who we are, no matter what our circumstances and challenges may be—are created to praise God through our lives. So consider appropriating this prayer for your own use as well. But pray it with great care. It is revolutionary and radical, because it has the potential to change the world. This is the kind of prayer that could heal racism and homophobia, poverty and world hunger, put an end to abortion. It could heal broken relationships and bring reconciliation to both individuals and families and nations. A prayer like this could help us experience the mind and heart of Christ.

God’s love in our lives is the most powerful life force on earth. It is a love that can motivate us to live heroic lives, overthrow injustice, and overcome impossible odds—all the while living sacrificially for the greater good of others and the whole world.

This holy season of Advent is a time of preparation for Christ’s coming at Christmas—and for his coming again in glory. What better preparation than to pray that our love will abound and flourish daily… that this love will be a source of blessing for the world… that it will transform and energize our own lives and the lives of others?

Let us pray today to our wise and loving God for more love in our own life and for our friends. May the Lord’s loving wisdom characterize our lives and guide our steps. May his love influence all our choices in life and empower us to see justice served without partiality or arrogance. And may our wonderful God be praised and honored as we strive to live a lover’s life with his powerful help. Amen.

*Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11
Brothers and sisters: I pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this: that the one who began a good work in you
will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

An Advent Message

The First Sunday of Advent
Today’s Readings: Jer 33: 14-16; Ps 25; 1 Thess 3: 12 – 4:2; Lk 21: 25-28, 34-36

God blessed us with a bit of the tropics this past week! I remember that last year, we had snow at Thanksgiving. This week, it hit 68°. It felt a bit odd running around in shorts and a tee shirt… while the radio stations were playing their Christmas music in full force.

Ah yes. It seems that every year the commercial side of Christmas bombards us earlier and earlier. This year, you probably noticed that we jumped right from Halloween into Christmas, hardly even pausing for Thanksgiving. The newspapers are heavy with slick advertising circulars and sale notices. The pressure is on to start shopping in earnest. Only 22 days till Christmas!!

Now, I’m by no means a Scrooge, but as we dash around buying gifts, we often forget the babe born in a manger had no crib for his bed. So this holy season of Advent, which begins today, is meant to be a little reminder and time for preparation for the real focus of Christmas.

Actually, not everyone is in a shopping frame of mind. Surrounding us are many families who routinely lack food and clothing. Over the past few weeks many of you gave generously so some of these families can get special gift baskets.

Besides the poor and hungry, there are also the homeless and victims of domestic violence. I imagine that some of these folks understand the deeper meaning of Christmas more than those of us who are more affluent. They can relate to the fact the first Christmas was one born out of desperation and poverty.

Instead of looking at the sparkling lights, beautifully wrapped packages and the festivities of the season, please pause for a moment to remember that Jesus’ birth took place in urgent and filthy circumstances. There was no room in the inn, as the beloved Christmas story tells us. Mary’s labor could not be ignored. The unborn child was going to come into the world without the able assistance of midwives or an attending physician. Joseph did the best he could and found a crude and drafty shelter for his cold, tired, laboring wife.

The sweet baby Jesus was born among the animals in the manger, amidst manure and straw. Our dogs have better accommodations than that.

No, there was no commercialism that first Christmas. God’s most enriching gift to the world was born among the poor and the homeless and the dumb animals. Do you think that this is exactly why the grown-up Jesus always spoke so passionately for the disadvantaged and oppressed and downtrodden? He was one of them.

It’s easy, especially at this time of year, to get caught up in the glitz of the season. Certainly we should be enormously thankful to God for giving us bounty and peace so we can enjoy these blessings.

However, we should also make a special effort not to get completely sucked in by the commercialism or obsess about finding, or receiving, expensive gifts. The best gifts cannot be bought. The best gifts are love. . . time together. . . deep, caring relationships. In other words, the best gifts come from the heart.

Consider sharing the true joy of Christmas with the lonely ones around us: people without families, forgotten people shut in at home, in nursing homes, in jail, in shelters and half-way houses… Reach out with a strong sense of caring and community.

Advent is also a fine time to imagine making a spiritual pilgrimage to Bethlehem for that first Christmas so long ago. Why not linger a bit with the wonderful Bible stories about this amazing child who came to be God among us—Emmanuel? I particularly recommend the opening chapters of the gospels of Luke and Matthew.

And during this privileged season of Advent—and throughout the entire holiday season, for that matter—pray in the magnificent words of St. Paul today: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all . . . so as to strengthen your hearts . . .

Yes, give many gifts from your heart this year. Let the light of Christ, which burns in your soul, shine forth. Be kind and patient and generous and forgiving. Be tolerant of one another, especially if you’re under stress. Count and share your blessings. Confess your sins and ask God for the grace to make a fresh start.

As you do these things and journey through Advent, let us pray that you will truly discover that the message of the Holy Child of Bethlehem still resonates throughout the world.