"What has happened to the old-fashioned, spiritual Christmas? The cause is our disregard of Advent. The church set aside this four-week pre-Christmas season as a time of spiritual preparation for Christ’s coming. It is a time of quiet anticipation. If Christ is going to come again into our hearts, there must be repentance. Without repentance, our hearts will be so full of worldly things that there will be ‘no room in the inn’ for Christ to be born again.…We have the joy not of celebration, which is the joy of Christmas, but the joy of anticipation."
Old-fashioned, Spiritual Christmas?. . . . . . . . . John R. Brokhoff, Preaching the Parables—Cycle C. p. 28
"It might be easy to run away to a monastery, away from the commercialization, the hectic hustle, the demanding family responsibilities of Christmas-time. Then we would have a holy Christmas. But we would forget the lesson of the Incarnation, of the enfleshing of God—the lesson that we who are followers of Jesus do not run from the secular; rather we try to transform it. It is our mission to make holy the secular aspects of Christmas just as the early Christians baptized the Christmas tree. And we do this by being holy people—kind, patient, generous, loving, laughing people—no matter how maddening is the Christmas rush…"
Meanings of Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Andrew Greeley, Woman’s Day, 12-22-81
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2 comments:
Beautiful Donna...and soooo true
I LOVE your new header too.
Not that your kids aren't precious ;
Love, Lori
i love the reference to 'no room in the inn'. how have i missed that all these years?
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