Midnight Christmas Mass was always my favorite as a kid. We would get all dressed up and enter the beautiful Church with all the decorations and the nativity scene. It’s like I can still smell the pine trees and see the glow of the Christmas lights. I think we probably all have memories that bring us back to the Christmas season. Whether it is the smell of freshly baked cookies or the Christmas ham roasting for hours, these physical signs point us back to memories and experiences that we have enjoyed.
The Gospel from the Christmas Mass during the Night proclaims, “For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you.” This has me thinking about the importance of physical signs. Wedding rings are exchanged as a sign of commitment. Gifts are exchanged as a sign of love or friendship. In today’s Gospel we have the signs of the manger and the swaddling clothes that are communicating to us that God has become flesh. Signs are important for us.
The beautiful thing about the signs we have in the Catholic Church is that they go beyond mere symbols. Today we commemorate not just a sign of God’s love in clothes and a structure, but we commemorate God literally taking on flesh to be a physical and effective sign of his love. Not just a sign in the sense of symbolic representation, but a sign that is so real and so effective that it literally becomes what it signifies.
We see this played out in every Mass. We start with the Liturgy of the Word where we read from Scripture. But that Word, throughout the course of the Mass, becomes so living, so real, so physical, so effective, that the Word of God literally becomes flesh for us on the altar. This is the very thing we celebrate this Christmas season. We can think back to all the great symbols that plunge us deeply into beautiful memories of family life, but let’s set aside some special time today to focus on the fact that God transcends all earthly signs and literally becomes one of us. He wants to be one with you and with me. If there is nothing else we take out of our celebrations today, I think it would do us well to focus on that reality. God loves you enough that he was born in a manger to have a relationship with you and one day be with you forever in paradise.
From all of us here at Diocesan, Merry Christmas and God bless!
La Misa de Navidad de medianoche siempre fue mi favorita cuando era niño. Nos vestíamos formales y entrábamos en la hermosa iglesia con todas las decoraciones y el belén. Es como si todavía pudiera oler los pinos y ver el resplandor de las luces navideñas. Creo que probablemente todos tenemos recuerdos que nos traen de vuelta a la temporada navideña. Ya sea el olor de las galletas recién horneadas o el jamón navideño asándose durante horas, estos signos físicos nos traen recuerdos y experiencias que hemos disfrutado.
El Evangelio de la Misa de Navidad de Medianoche proclama: “hoy les ha nacido, en la ciudad de David, un Salvador, que es el Mesías, el Señor. Esto les servirá de señal…” Esto me hace pensar en la importancia de los signos físicos. Los anillos de boda se intercambian como un signo de compromiso. Los regalos se intercambian como signo de amor o amistad. En el Evangelio de hoy tenemos los signos del pesebre y los pañales que nos comunican que Dios se ha hecho carne. Los signos son importantes para nosotros.
Lo hermoso de los signos que tenemos en la Iglesia Católica es que van más allá de los meros símbolos. Hoy conmemoramos no sólo un signo del amor de Dios en forma de ropa y una estructura, sino que conmemoramos a Dios literalmente tomando forma humana para ser un signo físico y efectivo de su amor. No sólo un signo en el sentido de una representación simbólica, sino un signo que es tan real y tan efectivo que literalmente se convierte en lo que significa.
Vemos esto durante cada Misa. Comenzamos con la Liturgia de la Palabra donde leemos la Escritura. Pero esa Palabra, a lo largo de la Misa, se vuelve tan viva, tan real, tan física, tan efectiva, que la Palabra de Dios literalmente se hace carne para nosotros en el altar. Esto es precisamente lo que celebramos en esta temporada navideña. Podemos pensar en todos los grandes símbolos que nos sumergen profundamente en hermosos recuerdos de la vida familiar, pero reservemos un tiempo especial hoy para enfocarnos en el hecho de que Dios trasciende todos los signos terrenales y literalmente se convierte en uno de nosotros. Él quiere ser uno contigo y conmigo. Si no hay nada más que podamos sacar de las celebraciones de hoy día, creo que nos vendría bien centrarnos en esa realidad. Dios te ama lo suficiente como para haber nacido en un pesebre para tener una relación contigo y un día estar contigo para siempre en el paraíso.
De parte de todos nosotros aquí en Diocesan, ¡Feliz Navidad y que Dios te bendiga!
Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”
Feature Image Credit: Kenny Eliason, unsplash.com/photos/nativity-outdoor-decor-during-night-time-LmcPCp92KFo
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