Do We Have Any Christmas Celebrations Without Christ?

Now as we near Christmas, it’s time to send and receive Christmas cards.I thought of sending some cards to my friends, so, I went to some shops. As I searched, I noticed that there were no cards with the picture of Jesus and Mary. All are Holy season cards, with pictures of animals, birds and flowers. That surprised me and reminded me of the story of Wright brothers.

In December 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He totally missed the big news–man had flown!

Many of us may be thrilled at the gifts, food and festivities of the holiday season, ignoring the fact that Christ’s birth is the true reason for this “holiday season” and that these are HOLY DAYS intended to give Jesus a homecoming by bringing Him into our daily lives. A Christmas celebration without Jesus Christ is like french fries without potatoes for me. So, make sure that the presence of Jesus Christ is in our Christmas celebrations.

The Third Sunday is called “Gaudete” Sunday. The word gaudete means Rejoice. “Gaudete in Domino semper” (“Rejoice in the Lord always”). This weekend we light the rose candle of the Advent wreath, and the priest is wearing rose vestments to express our communal joy in the coming of Jesus, as our Savior.  We rejoice because:

• We are celebrating the day of Christ’s birth.
• We recognize his daily presence in our midst.
• We wait for his return in glory.

In the gospel today, John the Baptist explains the secret of Christian joy as our wholehearted commitment to God’s way by the doing of His will. According to John, happiness comes from doing our duties faithfully, doing good to others and sharing our blessings with others. John’s call to repentance is a call to joy and restoration.  Repentance means a change in the purpose and direction of our lives.

Prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 61:10 says, we should rejoice because the promised Messiah is coming as our Savior to save us by liberating us from our bondages”.  St. Paul, in his letter to Thessalonians (1 Thes 5:16-24) advises to “rejoice always” by leading a blameless, holy and thankful life guided by the Holy Spirit, because Christ is faithful in his promise that he will come again to reward us. Third advent Sunday’s Gospel passage (Jn 1:6-8) tells us that John the Baptist came as a witness who would testify to the Light, i.e., Jesus, and the coming of Jesus the Light into the world is the cause for our rejoicing because  he removes the darkness of sin from the world.

We have an additional reason to rejoice because, like John the Baptist, we, too, are chosen to bear witness to Christ Jesus, the Light of the world. So, it is our duty to fill our lives with Christ’s Light so that we may radiate it and shed light in the dark lives of others around us through sharing love, overflowing mercy, unconditional forgiveness and humble service.

May God bless you.

-Fr Johnson