Christmas 2006
Christmas 2006 by John Ryan
It’s now the season of Advent, a season of waiting, a time of anticipation, awaiting the arrival of him who is to come. The Gospel readings for this period are a study in contrasts - destruction and rebuilding, devastation and renewal, suffering and rejoicing - the old yielding to the new.
So we wait, as we have been waiting for some 2,000 years, for the fulfillment of the prophecies - the renewal, joy, and peace that were to come with the birth of the babe.
There are those who will tell us that this is all high sentiment and wishful thinking, that it has little to do with the reality of life and they present a strong argument to justify their point of view. For what has been achieved in 2,000 years? The child grew up only to suffer, to be abused and to be sent into an early and ignominious grave. Despite his efforts, the world changed little - wars, plagues and famines continue. It’s business as usual. If the Lord intended to bring about a change, He did quite a poor job of it.
But we continue to wait, knowing that the failure is not the Lord’s but is ours, that we still don’t understand the reality of existence that Jesus showed us, that we still put our faith in the things of this world rather than in what can come to be. As a nation we say, "In God We Trust" but we really don’t believe it. Considering where we put our money, it appears that we have more faith in hardware - Abrams tanks, Stealth fighters, Nimitz carriers - all the accourtrements of war with which we hope to find "security." Yet, despite the trillions spent, we still send off our young people to fight and fall in foreign lands, we still live in uncertainty and fear. We should see that such security is a phantom but, still, we continue to squander more and more of our wealth and blood pursuing this will-o’-the-wisp.
I remember in my army days, my regimental chaplain gave me a small, GI-issue prayer book. On it’s cover was printed, "Pro Deo et Pro Patria" (For God and Country). At the time (I was only nineteen), it never occurred to me that there could be a conflict between the two for America was the beacon on the hill, the land good and true. If growing up is losing your illusions, I was an adolescent much longer than I should have been for I supported the folly of peace through guns for far too long.
At one time or another, we all go astray, forgetting what we are called to be. So, each year, Jesus comes to us anew to show us the way, to try to make clear to us once again where real life lies, to offer us another chance to hear the words of understanding.
So we must wait. We must pull away from the tinsel and tumult, the manufactured merriment and wait for his words to grow in our hearts and minds just as the child developed and matured in Mary’s womb, for, as with motherhood, nothing of value comes into being without a period of quiet incubation.
It occurs to me that Jesus’ life can be seen as representative of our life in the world - birth, suffering, and death - leading to the fullness of life. And there must be death before there can be real life, death to our old ways - indifference, self-interest, apathy, self-righteousness. We must put down our weapons and become aware that we are called to be his instruments - to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked. It is in this way that we bring his peace into the world. Otherwise, Jesus’ suffering will continue with each child who starves in Darfur, each man and woman who dies in the streets of Baghdad, each Palestinian and Israeli who perishes in Gaza or Jerusalem. The suffering and destruction will go on until, like Mary, we can say, "Yes" to life, to the way of Jesus, to the way of Peace.
It’s now the season of Advent, a season of waiting, a time of anticipation, awaiting the arrival of him who is to come. The Gospel readings for this period are a study in contrasts - destruction and rebuilding, devastation and renewal, suffering and rejoicing - the old yielding to the new.
So we wait, as we have been waiting for some 2,000 years, for the fulfillment of the prophecies - the renewal, joy, and peace that were to come with the birth of the babe.
There are those who will tell us that this is all high sentiment and wishful thinking, that it has little to do with the reality of life and they present a strong argument to justify their point of view. For what has been achieved in 2,000 years? The child grew up only to suffer, to be abused and to be sent into an early and ignominious grave. Despite his efforts, the world changed little - wars, plagues and famines continue. It’s business as usual. If the Lord intended to bring about a change, He did quite a poor job of it.
But we continue to wait, knowing that the failure is not the Lord’s but is ours, that we still don’t understand the reality of existence that Jesus showed us, that we still put our faith in the things of this world rather than in what can come to be. As a nation we say, "In God We Trust" but we really don’t believe it. Considering where we put our money, it appears that we have more faith in hardware - Abrams tanks, Stealth fighters, Nimitz carriers - all the accourtrements of war with which we hope to find "security." Yet, despite the trillions spent, we still send off our young people to fight and fall in foreign lands, we still live in uncertainty and fear. We should see that such security is a phantom but, still, we continue to squander more and more of our wealth and blood pursuing this will-o’-the-wisp.
I remember in my army days, my regimental chaplain gave me a small, GI-issue prayer book. On it’s cover was printed, "Pro Deo et Pro Patria" (For God and Country). At the time (I was only nineteen), it never occurred to me that there could be a conflict between the two for America was the beacon on the hill, the land good and true. If growing up is losing your illusions, I was an adolescent much longer than I should have been for I supported the folly of peace through guns for far too long.
At one time or another, we all go astray, forgetting what we are called to be. So, each year, Jesus comes to us anew to show us the way, to try to make clear to us once again where real life lies, to offer us another chance to hear the words of understanding.
So we must wait. We must pull away from the tinsel and tumult, the manufactured merriment and wait for his words to grow in our hearts and minds just as the child developed and matured in Mary’s womb, for, as with motherhood, nothing of value comes into being without a period of quiet incubation.
It occurs to me that Jesus’ life can be seen as representative of our life in the world - birth, suffering, and death - leading to the fullness of life. And there must be death before there can be real life, death to our old ways - indifference, self-interest, apathy, self-righteousness. We must put down our weapons and become aware that we are called to be his instruments - to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked. It is in this way that we bring his peace into the world. Otherwise, Jesus’ suffering will continue with each child who starves in Darfur, each man and woman who dies in the streets of Baghdad, each Palestinian and Israeli who perishes in Gaza or Jerusalem. The suffering and destruction will go on until, like Mary, we can say, "Yes" to life, to the way of Jesus, to the way of Peace.
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