Homily

So why do we celebrate Christmas? What do you say? What are our reasons? I offer three reasons. (1) It is an extra opportunity to give praise and thanks to Almighty God. Every Christian feastday is an opportunity for that. (2) It’s a celebration of one of the most important events in the life of Christ and of our faith. (3) It is an opportunity for us to grow in faith. Maybe that’s one aspect of Christmas celebration that we tend to forget. We celebrate Christ that we might grow in Christ. There are two places and times where that can happen: wherever we spend Christmas day (at our house or someone else’s), and here in church for the Liturgy.

Let’s talk about in the home, yours or someone else’s. Whether or not that time spent on Christmas day helps us grow or drags us down is largely a matter of choice. Not the choices of other people, but rather the choices that WE make.

Tell me, if we are going to spend time with relatives and friends where will the surprises be that cause us to become angry, or frustrated or disappointed? We know these people, we know how they are, we know what they might say or do that will upset us. There is no surprise. So why must we react in the same way over and over again? We do have a choice, so let us choose to keep ourselves in peace of mind and heart, and prepare ourselves spiritually for any potential trouble spots we might see developing on Christmas. Throw up the bar against bad thoughts, judgmental opinions, unfulfilled expectations and fearful worries. Close the door against envy, sentimentalism, bad memories and self-centered thoughts. Put your Christmas hopes only in Christ our Lord, because the more we can do that, so much of the bad and negative falls off from our shoulders and gives us freedom and peace. It is a great foolishness to live as though life just kind of comes at us and we have to deal with it as best we can. It is much more important that we see life as an opportunity to more and more put on Christ. Whether good things or bad come our way it is the choices we make in faith that determine whether or not we grow in the Lord or simply push our way through. Let us choose wisely how we spend our time with others for Christmas. Let it be for us a source of grace, not for sin.

Now, what about coming to church for Liturgy tonight or tomorrow? What good can it bring us? I think there is one main reason why we miss out on some of the spiritual good that can come to us in the celebration of the Liturgy. It is because of distractions.

And if we have younger kids, it is extra-difficult not to be distracted during Liturgy. It’s also true that others can easily be distracted by your kids as well. I empathize. It’s tough. But even apart from children we are often so very easily distracted just by our own thoughts. We are at Liturgy and we’re thinking about this, and we’re thinking about that and it’s hard to fully participate in what we’re supposed to be doing. It can be very difficult. But it’s even more difficult if we don’t try to fight against it, but just allow our random thoughts to take us wherever they want to. The answer once again is choice. We ought to choose to direct our attention and our thoughts to the Liturgy: to the words of the Nativity Vespers, to the Scripture readings, to the carols we sing, to the ideas and truths found in the text of the Liturgy, to whatever it is the Lord wants to say to you during the service. Attendance is good, but attending TO Christ our Lord and giving our thoughts and minds to Him is the way to satisfy the emptiness of our hearts that He alone can fill. The Lord wants to fill us with His life, but cannot do it unless we provide an opening for Him.

It’s unlikely we can be TOTALLY focused on our worship here for Christmas, but if we make an effort, and choose to try and find at least some spots during the Liturgy where we can allow the prayers, the scriptures, the images—some spots where we can hear the Word of the Lord speaking to us—if we can work on that we will leave church carrying the light of Christ more brightly and more sincerely.

Let's be prepared for Christmas!