Solemnity of Christmas – Year C
Every Who
Down in Who-ville
Liked Christmas a lot…
But the Grinch,
Who lived just North of Who-ville,
Did NOT!
The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be that his head wasn’t screwed on quite right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
But,
Whatever the reason,
His heart or his shoes,
He stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the Whos,
Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown
At the warm lighted windows below in their town.
For he knew every Who down in Who-ville beneath
Was busy now, hanging a mistletoe wreath.
“And they’re hanging their stockings!” he snarled with a sneer.
“Tomorrow is Christmas! It’s practically here!”
Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,
“I MUST find a way to keep Christmas from coming!”
If you have been near a mall in the past few days or even tried to drive the main roads around town you might just be wondering if your head was not screwed on quite right or even your shoes were a little too tight. I even found myself almost having to ask Msgr. Barker for the sacrament of reconciliation after a couple of trips to the store.
We have been so busy trying to get everything ready and make this celebration of Christmas one to remember: We have bought all the presents, we have cleaned the house from top to bottom, we have braved the lines at the grocery store for our feast, we have hung all our stocking with care and now we come together as the Church, as the Body of Christ to give praise and thanks to God.
Yet…why do our hearts feel two sizes too small?
If we are honest with ourselves we might just recognize that despite all of our preparations this has not been an easy year for us, our families, our country or our world. We have experienced setbacks, complications, hardships, failings, worries and anxieties. In fact, we have experienced one of the worst economic times in recent memory and our growing problems seem to outweigh our blessings. We seem more divided then united and we look to the future with fear and a hesitant heart.
Perhaps we are not far from what Israel was feeling when Isaiah proclaimed:
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing,
as they rejoice before you as at the harvest,
as people make merry when dividing spoils.
While we try to cover over our anxiety and dismiss our fears, this celebration of Christmas addresses them directly and without hesitation: the light has come, abundant joy is proclaimed and the harvest will be great!! This is not wishful thinking or dreaming – this is reality!! This is God’s promise to us!!
In a world of temporary highs, quick fixes, commercial ads and short term leases God gives an everlasting gift…HOPE!!
However, we cannot look for this gift under a tree or wrapped in colorful paper or nestled in a stocking.
And we, with our feet ice cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?
How? Luke tells us:
“Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger.”
We know where to look: a manger, a stable, a feeding trough – the most humble of places and the most unlikely of cribs.
Yet, we hesitate and we are anxious on what we might find.
Why? Because, we might be challenged, we might be asked to give up our own images, understandings, preconceptions and misgivings of what this day represents.
A child, a baby, a birth turns our world upside down and we find ourselves unprepared for the consequences.
Christmas asks something of us and it will be different for each person. What does Christmas ask of you?
We celebrate something that is larger than ourselves and more vast than we could possible comprehend.
We are the family of God – we are the Body of Christ – we are the Church and a baby made all the difference.
Around this altar we are not individuals alone and adrift, but united together through a bond that can never be broken and a hope that will never be extinguished, we join our voices with the angels:
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Christmas is a constant choice, it is a constant commitment and it is a constant calling. Christmas is not for the faint of heart and we can only answer its message united together.
The most exalted of heaven is brought to the most humble of dwellings so that all who are humbled might one day be exalted.
This may not be our perfect Christmas, but it does not need to be.
Despair is transformed into hope, sadness into joy, death into new life.
Christmas has come once again.
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”
And what happened then…?
Well…in Who-ville they say
That the Grinch’s small heart
Grew three sizes that day!
Christmas is Christmas. Not because of us, but because of Jesus.
You might want to check the size of your heart.
wonderful keep it up i love them merry christmas father
I WENT TO THE 4PM MASS IN THE OLD CHURCH-GOT THERE 2 HOURS EARLY SO I COULD SIT UP FRONT AND READ THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS AND SAID THE PRAYERS WITH IT. ANYWAY, I ENJOYED THE PRIEST SERMON =FORGOT HIS NAME BUT HE WAS A FRANCISCAN AND I AM A ST. FRANCIS FAN AND ALSO MY PATRON ST. AND MIDDLE NAME-BUT YOUR SERMON HERE IS ALSO WAY COOL. I DO ENJOY YOUR SERMONS WHEN WE HAPPEN TO BE GOING TO THE MASS YOU ARE SAYING.KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. NOT BORING AT ALL. MERRY XMAS FR. AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.-:-)
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