Happy Christmas!

thought-for-sundayFrom the desk of Fr. Ignatius Waters, cp

Sunday, 23rd December 2018

  

 

You know that ad on T.V. when the famous rugby star, Paul O’Connell, returns to his Primary school and is welcomed by his old teacher and all the children, who are very excited by it all. Then one little fellow announces to all his pals, “One day I’m going to come back to this school!” And a little girl down the line pipes up, “Sure you’re coming back tomorrow, aren’t you?” And they all have a great laugh.

There was similar confusion a few years ago when my sister’s grandchildren were helping her put up the Christmas decorations and the crib. All was fine till they got to the crib. They put in the straw and the sheep, the cow and the donkey and then, they put in Mary and Joseph. Little Dara, aged 5, was holding on to the baby because he knew the baby was the important one, so when everything was ready, he put the baby in. But his older sister Sorcha objected, “No, you can’t put the baby in yet” He was very disappointed and asked, “Why?” And she said, “Because he’s not born yet!” And little Dara thought this was ridiculous and said, “But he was born last year, wasn’t he? and If he’s not born yet, then how is he alive now and we pray to him?”

 I have great sympathy for Dara because Jesus is born and dies every year all within a few months. And, of course, he’s alive and with us all the time! And even though he’s alive all the time, we can’t put him in the crib till his birthday! It does seem foolish. But we can’t tell Dara we’re just re-enacting Jesus’ life every year and trying to learn from it, because then he’ll surely say, “So it’s not real then?” It is real and it’s a great mystery and not just for Dara.

To think that the great Creator God of the Universe came among us as a helpless little baby.  There are no human words that can express the wonder of this. Every birth is a time of joy and celebration. (I know it’s also a time of fear and anxiety, when much can go wrong). But how can we find a fitting way to celebrate the coming among us of the great God of the Universe in flesh and blood like ours? The wonder continues to this day. That child of flesh and blood grew up to become the body and blood of our Eucharist. He becomes part of us, so we can become part of him. We are the drop of water drowned in the wine as we say every day in the mass: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”

                         A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!