The nativity of the Lord
When the instructions came for today’s reflection, I learned that I could use any of the readings for Christmas – Vigil, Mass during the Night, Mass at Dawn, or Mass during the Day. Oh my, how will I decide!?
I spent part of an Advent Saturday morning listening to the readings for all four celebrations. What an emotional and blessed occurrence! I heard anew in this set of readings such overflowing joy and hope and promise – we have the genealogy, the Prologue of John’s Gospel, illustrative words from Isaiah, psalms to stir our souls, two beautiful readings from the seldom-heard book of Titus. Who knew? I am sure many of you out there did! I love opportunities to catch up!
We have had a very tough year – with cuts to programs, threats to immigrants, the rising cost of almost everything, mixed messages, war, and very hungry people. These readings – for each celebration and all of them together – offer us hope: “Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord;” “Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord;” “A light will shine on us this day: the Lord is born for us.”
Our work is not just the work of our hands. It is the work of our God using our hands and minds and hearts to transform our little part of the world. Many days challenges come – most days I guess – but what bursts forth from all these readings is that we have a companion: we have Emmanuel who is with us in all of it! The consolation and strength offered by the sacraments, the Word, and our companions on the journey, remind us to keep on keeping on. We are people of hope, as the light has shone in the darkness, and that light has come to dwell with us!
The Holy Door at St. Peter’s will close on January 6, just before the Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals gathers in Rome. This year of hope has had many faces – a new pope, new bishops in the Diocese of Albany and many other places, more people living in decent housing, more people whose hearts have been changed. The joy of the angels and the wise men lives on for every person who blesses us with their struggle and trusts us with their pain.
In the Luke’s gospel (Luke 2:15-20) for the Mass at Dawn we hear, “When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’” May we continue the Christmas season with the desire to “see this thing!”
Sr. Betsy Van Deusen is a Sister of Saint Joseph of Carondelet who serves as the CEO of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany NY. She served on the CCUSA Parish Leadership Team and is presently a member of the CCUSA Board of Directors.