In the post before last, I mentioned in quick succession a few aspects of the season, but aspects that nonetheless are intergral to each other and are central to our being as Catholics, not just during the Advent and Christmas seasons. As we celebrate a New Year and the Feast of Mary, Mother of God (ChurchYear.net), a Holy Day of Obligation, at a vigil tonight or at Mass tomorrow, it is an appropriate time to flesh them out a bit.
First is the hope that the glow of the season stays with us all year long. We celebrate during Christmas God’s divine touch on us in the form of the Mystery of the Incarnation. Just because we celebrate Jesus’ birth now doesn’t mean he goes away the rest of the year. God becomes man through the incarnation. Inconceivable! It is worth celebrating all year.
We do that by constantly reflecting Jesus by our actions to others. Inspire them to the Lord by how we act and explain the Divine Mysteries. We especially need to instill the love of the Lord in those who at least show a perfunctory acknowledgment of God. Many people attend Mass twice a year. Let’s try to bring them home to the Church while there is an immediate Christmas warmth in their hearts. While this mission to bring to the salvation of the Church to others includes Christians, non-Christians and non-believers alike, we have a special obligation to show wayward Catholics the way home (see Catholics Come Home).
Bringing all this together is the central thought that the Wood of the Manger is the Wood of the Cross. While it is warm and fun to celebrate a birthday and exchange presents, God humbled himself to become man for one reason: To die for our sins. That is why we must “celebrate” Christmas all year. Not the gift-giving, but the life giving that Christ gave us by His birth — the everlasting life He gives us. For, if not for His birth, He has no human life. Without His Incarnation, we do not have His sacrifice on the Cross for our redemption and forgiveness of our sins. So the wood of the Manger is the Wood of the Cross. After all, even at Christmas, where we celebrate His birth, the central part of the Mass, what we truly celebrate, is the Holy Eucharist, Christ’s Body and Blood made available to us only by His death and Resurrection.
