A few days ago, I was looking through the various different readings for
Christmas, for the Vigil Mass, the Mass During the Night, the Mass at
Dawn and the Mass During the Day, and various memories came back.
You might have the same thing too. You read certain readings and you
maybe remember the voice of a certain reader from your childhood,
perhaps with his or her own particular style. Or maybe you might read the
psalm and it reminds you of a particular setting that was sung some years
ago. Memories come flooding back.
So, just a few of my memories, some good, some not so good or a bit silly.
In my first parish, there were three priests living at the main church, and
we covered three other Mass centres within the parish at the weekend. The
one Christmas we were a bit late getting the altar servers’ presents, so
whilst one of the priests got ready for the first Mass in the main church, I
was sent off to the supermarket. I reversed my car into the parking space,
and suddenly heard a crunch. Thankfully, there was no visible damage.
And the bumper didn’t fall off later on.
We always had a Mass at Midnight, and for my first Midnight Mass, which
all three priests concelebrated together, I can remember the choir pulling
out all the stops, but also that I was so tired that my vision was going, and
I had to say the Eucharistic Prayer partially from memory.
In my third parish, we had two Christmas trees. The way we got the
second one was that the parish school thought it a bit of a waste to get rid
of theirs when the school closed for Christmas, so they would pass it onto
us. So that Saturday evening, when the other priest helping me out in the
parish unlocked the church, he walked across the porch in the dark to the
light switch, and straight into the tree. “Where did that come from?” were
his words, or something similar.
Of course, another memory that you might also share with me comes from
the TV musical Scrooge:
Of all the days in all the year
That I'm familiar with
There's only one that's really fun
December the twenty-fifth!
Correct!
Ask anyone called Robinson
Or Brown, or Jones, or Smith,
Their favourite day and they will say
December the twenty-fifth!
Correct!
December the twenty-fifth, m'dears
December the twenty-fifth
The dearest day in all the year
December the twenty-fifth!
Correct!
So why is Christmas so important? Padre Pio once said something along
the lines of that, whilst Easter is the most important feast in the Church’s
calendar, there was something about Christmas that touched his heart.
God isn’t a God who is just all seriousness; He didn’t beam down as an
adult. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, yes; He was
born in a miraculous manner that preserved Our Lady’s integrity, yes, but
He was born as a defenceless baby. He wanted to be approachable, and for
us to approach Him. We are important to Him. A few years ago, Pope
Francis wrote a reflection on the nativity scene. He said that there is often
the background of a starry sky. This isn’t just a reflection of the biblical
scene, but it reminds us of those times when we have experienced the
darkness in our own lives. Even then, he says:
“God does not abandon us, but is there to answer our crucial questions
about the meaning of life. Who am I? Where do I come from? Why was
I born at this time in history? Why do I love? Why do I suffer? Why will
I die? It was to answer these questions that God became man. His
closeness brings light where there is darkness and shows the way to those
dwelling in the shadow of suffering (cf. Lk 1:79).”
And then he goes on to talk about the fact that some nativity scenes, rather
than being set in a cave, are surrounded by ruins. The pope says that this
symbolises “the visible signs of fallen humanity, of everything that
inevitably falls into ruin, decays and disappoints. … Jesus is the newness
in the midst of an ageing world, … [and] has come to heal and rebuild, to
restore the world and our lives to their original splendour.” [Both quotes
are from para 4 of Admirable Signum]
We could say that part of the story of Scrooge is about how someone who
had made a mess of his life, and the lives of others, who experiences the
grace of God, has a change of heart and lives a new life. All over
Christmas night. December the twenty-fifth is so good m’dears because of
Who is behind it all. So, as I draw to a close, first, a quote from Pope
Benedict:
“Do we have time for our neighbour who is in need of a word from us,
from me, or in need of my affection? Do we have time and space for God?
Can he enter into our lives? Does he find room in us, or have we occupied
all the available space in our thoughts, our actions, our lives for
ourselves?”
Whatever we answer to this when we look back at Christmas past, we can
look now to the Christ-child for Christmas present and then allow Him to
shape Christmas future. He is the Lord, and all things are in His hands.
And He knows, with His help, what good things we are capable of.