A Walk Through Christmas
Today, Prodigal Daughter is the guest blogger. She wrote about what Christmas means to her.
"Christmas does not begin when the first commercial comes on TV alerting us to the impending shopping frenzy or when the first Christmas display appears at WalMart with it's gaudy red and green tinsel. Christmas begins after one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. It is then when I pull out the Advent wreath which I always put in with the Thanksgiving decorations.
When that first Sunday of Advent arrives and I see the beautiful wreath displayed near the altar of my Catholic Church, I know it's time. It 's time to anticipate His coming to earth among us. I then have 4 weeks to meditate on the concept of God coming to earth. During Advent we not only focus on God's entry into time, but also his return (the second coming.) There is so much to be thankful for and to ponder, Mary's obedience, Joseph's faithfulness, Elizabeth's joy.
I walk with all of them through Advent and the culmination of these four weeks of preparation, is the joyful Christmas Mass. That one day I completely enter into the mystery and reality of God come to earth. I take out the figures of the baby Jesus and add them to my Manger Scenes. Centuries would not be enough time to meditate on his birth, but thankfully the Church encourages us to set aside one day a year to take it all in. More than that though, we continue to celebrate and meditate on Christ's coming and all that it means to us and the world until after the Feast of Epiphany. It is at that time when we bring our Christmas celebration to a close. We take down the tree, and all the decorations with thankfulness in our hearts for all that God has revealed to us during this holy season of Advent and Christmas.
So Christmas means a taking in of the whole miracle that is God come to earth and asking in some small way if I might have a glimpse at the glory and wonder of it all."
When that first Sunday of Advent arrives and I see the beautiful wreath displayed near the altar of my Catholic Church, I know it's time. It 's time to anticipate His coming to earth among us. I then have 4 weeks to meditate on the concept of God coming to earth. During Advent we not only focus on God's entry into time, but also his return (the second coming.) There is so much to be thankful for and to ponder, Mary's obedience, Joseph's faithfulness, Elizabeth's joy.
I walk with all of them through Advent and the culmination of these four weeks of preparation, is the joyful Christmas Mass. That one day I completely enter into the mystery and reality of God come to earth. I take out the figures of the baby Jesus and add them to my Manger Scenes. Centuries would not be enough time to meditate on his birth, but thankfully the Church encourages us to set aside one day a year to take it all in. More than that though, we continue to celebrate and meditate on Christ's coming and all that it means to us and the world until after the Feast of Epiphany. It is at that time when we bring our Christmas celebration to a close. We take down the tree, and all the decorations with thankfulness in our hearts for all that God has revealed to us during this holy season of Advent and Christmas.
So Christmas means a taking in of the whole miracle that is God come to earth and asking in some small way if I might have a glimpse at the glory and wonder of it all."
(Prodigal Daughter 12/18/08)
posted by Russ Rentler, M.D. | 9:09 AM
1 Comments:
Very Nice Essay PD. At Christmas, therefore, we do not limit ourselves to commemorating the birth of a great person, We recognize the Word made Flesh, and realize that "it is a Word addressed to us." The meaning of that Word is encapsulated in the event. The almighty God reveals Himself to us as a poor infant in order to conquer our pride.
Post a Comment
Home