“I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all year. I will live in the past, the present, and the future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” – Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol
During the middle of the summer, the merchants and advertisers have dubbed this period “Christmas in July.” This is an opportunity for stores and social media to tap into our love for Christmas and increase advertising and sales during a dull time of year.
In some ways, the Christian community joins the retail community in celebrating Christmas this week. While online shops and brick-and-mortar stores focus on selling merchandise, the liturgical calendar focuses on family, friends, and faith.
The Church began the week remembering the grandparents of Jesus and his family of origin. We end the week recalling his friends in the family of Bethany. Anne, Joachim, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus all help us to recall the relationships that were so important to the life of the Lord and formed him in his ministry and his mission.
All of these women and men became saints because of their kinship with Christ. They connected with him as family and friends. Jesus had taught that family ties depended on those who did the will of God (Mark 3:35). The holy men and women we celebrate this week did this throughout their lives. They heard the Word of God and put it into practice (Luke 11:28).
St. Francis de Sales called all men and women to pursue holiness in accordance with their state in life and vocation. The saints we celebrate this week found holiness in living their ordinary, everyday lives as parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and friends. They heard the Word of God, they listened to God’s word, they acted on the Word, and they spread the Word in their own way.
At Christmas, we recall that the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. During this week in July, we see how the Word dwelled among family and friends in their homes and in their hearts.
St. Francis told us that “the lives of the saints are nothing but the Gospel put into practice.” Let’s keep practicing. Let’s keep loving. Let’s keep Christmas all year!
Rev. Jack Kolodziej, OSFS
Provincial
Wilmington-Philadelphia Province
