Christmas is a season, not just a day. It begins on the 25th of December. The Rockefeller Center tree and elves on shelves and all the rest can be deceiving. We were only preparing for Christmas and now are celebrating it. At least until the Epiphany, on January 6. Others will celebrate until the feast of the Presentation in early February. It’s important to embrace Christmas as a season, because it is hope for humanity, and we need it for joy. Obviously, not everyone is Christian and embraces the Incarnation of God at Christmas. But for those who do: Everyone needs all Christians to be reminded of this remarkable reality of our lives.
“There is no reason to lose heart or give up and be depressed,” Father Alfred Delp, S.J., wrote from a Nazi prison cell, handcuffed in 1944, his last Advent and Christmas. (I quote from the collection Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons and Prison Writings, 1941–1944, from Ignatius Press.) “Instead this is a time for confidence and for tirelessly calling on God. We must unite ourselves with God against our distress.” He goes on to quote from the “Te Deum,” a hymn of praise: “Let Your mercy be upon us who have placed our hope in You.” He explains: “That establishes the measure to which God commits Himself. His nearness is as intimate as our longing to be genuine. His mercy is as great as our call to Him in earnest. His liberation is as near and effective as our faith in Him and in His coming is unshaken and unshakable. That’s the truth!”
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