As we enter into our Advent Season we are reminded of the joy and generosity of God as we celebrate the many days and blessings the season brings. It is hard not to begin celebrating Christmas early and with the Feast of St. Nicholas happening on the 6th of December we truly begin the joy and celebration of gift giving.
We know with the commercial intrusion on these holy days, the Black Friday which is the tradition touching off of the gorging of holiday spending, the new and improved Cyber Monday offering us another chance to spend, spend and spend. Even small things like the Hallmark Channel with the inundation of movies themed around Christmas beginning sometime in October. Then finally, during this year of pandemic, we have some people calling for the cancelling of Christmas. I even read where one public official pondered if it would be wise to move Christmas into February.
What each of these have in common is the use of the word Christmas without the actual understanding and sharing of the meaning of Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the giving and sharing of gifts, but I also understand: this is not Christmas. Christmas is the moment when God breaks into the world in the person of the second person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Son of God, Jesus born of the Virgin Mary that night in Bethlehem.
“Open wide your door to the one who comes. Open your soul, throw open the depths of your heart to see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the sweetness of grace. Open your heart and run to meet the Sun of eternal light that illuminates all men.” (St. Ambrose of Milan) Once more, it is a time of celebration and of generosity towards others, but more importantly it is a time of deep and profound thanksgiving, prayer and the embracing of the other in the person of the child Jesus.
This returns us to St. Nicholas. He is the inspiration for the image of Santa Claus is some small way. He was also a bishop of the early Church in Myra, modern day Turkey, in the 4th century. St. Nicholas was a stout defender of the orthodoxy of the Catholic faith and was imprisoned and exiled for his belief in Jesus. The hagiography of his life tells of him helping three young women with their dowry allowing them to marry…thus the legend of St. Nick/Santa Claus.
The St. Nicholas day tradition of putting your shoes outside the door and during the night the holy Saint will come by and put a small gift, candy, fruit or even a little money, in them is a small precursor to the gifts under the Christmas tree delivered on the night of our Lord and Savior’s birth.
It is a powerful reminder of how Jesus comes to us. We may not be able to travel and visit as we would wish, but the child Jesus comes to us. We may have economic and physical challenges that limit us, but the child Jesus comes to us. God comes to us and invites us into a relationship of love. Let us prepare the our hearts, our homes and our families for the child Jesus and welcome him with open arms knowing that God is with us, our Emmanuel.
“Christ is born, glorify Him! Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him! Christ on earth, be exalted! Sing to the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope.” (St. Gregory Nazianzen)
God Bless
Fr. Mark