Many things make me smile during the holidays. One is a memory of a nephew when he was about 6 years old. A few days before Christmas, I was visiting his family with my parents. My nephew was sitting in a chair in the living room corner, obviously pondering something. He was naturally one of those kids who never stopped moving, so his posture and mood were out of character. I was looking at him, wondering what was going on in his head, when suddenly he popped out of the chair and announced to the room, “I hate Christmas!” Asked why he hated Christmas, he stated, “Because it’s never gonna get here!” His Advent “patient waiting” had reached its limit but he certainly brought a smile to my face.
In 2012, Father Louis Fiorelli, OSFS, published a short booklet, “Inspired Common Sense: Seven Fundamental Themes of Salesian Spirituality.” In this booklet, he states, “Saint Francis de Sales understood the Incarnation as ‘God’s kiss to creation,’ the moment in salvation history when the divine and human hearts, at last, find one another.”
This image is a beautiful one to consider as we celebrate the birth of Christ this Sunday. The moment of Christ’s birth, marked by dreams, angels, sheep, shepherds and a child in a manger, joins the miraculous with the mundane. We should all smile at this thought and we do so with lights everywhere. We light things up to celebrate this fantastic moment - trees, homes, bridges, skyscrapers, zoos, churches and more. Local and national competitions reward the country’s most elaborate light displays. Even the Oblate pastor I live with has set up seven Christmas trees in our home. Why? It seems a bit excessive but then again, maybe not!
God is part of our history through the Incarnation in a new way. We are moving toward the full reign of God. It may take a few eons, but that is where we are headed, so we light things up to proclaim our hope and joy with this gift and smile. I hope my nephew, now grown and with a child of his own, can instill this hope and joy in his son.
So we gather at Christmas trees, parties and Christmas dinner tables and smile. Smile at the world that says no to peace, happiness or justice. We smile and say, Christ’s birth is the fulfillment of a promise – a promise God made to be with us always and to bring us glory. And we pledge to live in a way that proclaims this wondrous and beautiful truth. We pledge to live in love, to work for peace and to seek justice for all of God’s people!
That’s a Merry Christmas! May God bless us all with this gift! Smile!
Father Jack Loughran, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province
