Holidays and Holiness

December is the calmest month. Chanukah and Christmas fill its weeks with thoughts of humility, earthiness, and peace.

It is also the month in which the Lord showed His “preferential option for the poor.” Having the power to choose, He chose to be born among the poor, in the pattern of so many of the prophets before Him. Indeed, when one thinks of it, the whole people of Judaea were poor indeed. For them, even water and shade were scarce and precious. Surrounded by desert, Jerusalem was a tiny trading center—how tiny can be seen from the extant walls of the Old City. Jerusalem was no worldly match for Rome, Athens, Alexandria.

About the Author

Michael Novak

Michael Novak was a Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat.

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December is the calmest month. Chanukah and Christmas fill its weeks with thoughts of humility, earthiness, and peace.

It is also the month in which the Lord showed His “preferential option for the poor.” Having the power to choose, He chose to be born among the poor, in the pattern of so many of the prophets before Him. Indeed, when one thinks of it, the whole people of Judaea were poor indeed. For them, even water and shade were scarce and precious. Surrounded by desert, Jerusalem was a tiny trading center—how tiny can be seen from the extant walls of the Old City. Jerusalem was no worldly match for Rome, Athens, Alexandria.