Christmas Morning
As those of us who are already awake when it is still dark, it may seem strange to realize that on the other side of the world, the day is almost over. Those of us in the Eastern United States are still in anticipation of the day while the other side of the world wonders what comes next.
What should come next is a commitment to live in the hope that not only has the world changed but that it can continue to change as we live in discipleship to the person the babe is to become. What comes next is a commitment to build a society, a world that reflects the promise of God’s kingdom of justice and mercy, peace and love.
Those words sound schmaltzy but they demand a commitment to serious work. As we think through this week, the last week of the year, we should consider not only its sadness but how things could have been different – better or worse. Christmas is a joyful anticipation of God’s Kingdom. Let us turn our hopes into reality.
Prayer for the Day
God of the winter rose and the poinsettias, you have given us a garden;
May we accept the variety of its plants and peoples among us.
The paths of even a winter garden contain the seeds of what is to come;
May we nurture the seeds of what we can be in the world.
As we remember Mary’s song about the meaning of this day,
May we live that song in our hearts and in our lives.
In the name of him who shows the way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
It is no use saying that we are born 2,000 years too late to give room to Christ. …Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts, and giving shelter or food to anyone who asks for it, or needs it, is giving it to Christ.
-Dorothy Day, established Catholic worker movement (1897-1980)
We must speak in practical terms. Either Christ's coming has meaning for us now, or else it means nothing at all.
- Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, German Lutheran theologian (1842-1919)
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth, break forth, O mountains, into singing,
For the Lord has comforted the people and will have compassion on the suffering
Isaiah 49: 13