O Come, all Ye faithful

Dear Friends,

At a recent gathering I was asked what my favorite Christmas carol was. The questioner went on to name several carols that I love, but didn’t guess that my favorite is O Come, All Ye Faithful. Like all Christmas carols, better than any prose message, aside from Scripture it expresses the profound, and simple truths of what happened when Jesus was born. Jesus is described as “the King of angels”, “Light from Light”, “Word from the Father”, God who would humble the divine nature to be born of a human mother.

This is the mystery of Christmas that we are so loved that God chose to not only draw near, but to become one of us. This birth summoned angels to sing of it to shepherds who abandoned watching their flocks to hurry to this stable in Bethlehem. The carol invites us to share in the joy and the triumph of this gift, and to come and behold the “Son of the Father”.

What I love best about this carol is that it makes no assumption about who is faithful. The faithful are those who celebrate this birth and its wonders. Participating in this celebration makes us the faithful whom God in Christ Jesus came to teach, to serve, and to love.

This Christmas, perhaps more than ever, we are reminded that Jesus was born for all of us, not just the religious. We are invited to ponder how Christ is born in us, again, and to look and see how Christ is born in others too, no matter how different from us they are. After all, the first witnesses to this birth were shepherds, hardly people of great reputation in those days. Then as the carol invites, embrace Jesus “with love and awe.” That verse ends with this question, “who would not love thee, loving us so dearly?”

Our best Christmas gift always is the birth of Jesus, a gift that through his life, death and resurrection, through the communion and community we share keeps on giving without end. Greet Jesus on this “happy morning” and give glory by honoring this love divine in all.

A blessed Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you,

Mary +