Dec. 18, 2011: 4th Sunday of Advent (B)
This past Sunday, children from our two parishes gathered at St. Francis Church to put on the annual Live Nativity. The little ones dressed up as angels and shepherds and gathered on the side of the manger to sing Christmas carols. One of the littlest angels (aged 2 or 3) wandered away in the sanctuary from her Choir of Angels and approached the infant Jesus in the manger. One of the more mature angels then flew down to swoop up the little one back to the Choir. After the program, we went to the parish hall for a visit from a surprise guest, a portly fellow with a white beard, red suit and a heavy red velvet bag. The children lined up and told him all that they wanted for Christmas. He later told me, "Father, do you know what one child asked for? A new golf cart. I told her, 'Honey, look at my bag. It can't fit in there.'"
Many children are asked around this time of the year, "Have you been good or bad this year?" On the Santa's official website, I downloaded a questionnaire which helps determine whether we are on the "Good List" or the "Bad List." Being on the "Good List" comes with perks--gifts at Christmas! Some of the questions are:
Do you play nicely with others?
Do you keep your room clean?
Do you tell the truth, even if someone asks if you did something bad?
Do you obey your parents?
Do you pray?
This list sounds much like the Examination of Conscience for going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We teach our children about what it takes to be on Santa's "Good List" or "Bad List" by being kind to and patient with others, by putting another's needs before our own needs. By doing so, the children receive the gifts for which they have so yearned. There is a connection between forgetting self and receiving gifts. We have all heard the term "being full of yourself." We use this term when we think that someone is self-absorbed and believes that he is better than others. On the other hand, we have also heard the of term "emptying yourself"--emptying yourself of pride, anger, lust, gluttony, envy, jealousy, laziness, and greed. Somehow, the more we empty us of ourself, there is more capacity to be filled. Mother Teresa put it succinctly, "God cannot fill what is already full, He can fill only emptiness... We have to be completely empty to let God do what He wills, so that we can receive Him fully in our life and let Him live His life in us."
Many children are asked around this time of the year, "Have you been good or bad this year?" On the Santa's official website, I downloaded a questionnaire which helps determine whether we are on the "Good List" or the "Bad List." Being on the "Good List" comes with perks--gifts at Christmas! Some of the questions are:
Do you play nicely with others?
Do you keep your room clean?
Do you tell the truth, even if someone asks if you did something bad?
Do you obey your parents?
Do you pray?
This list sounds much like the Examination of Conscience for going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We teach our children about what it takes to be on Santa's "Good List" or "Bad List" by being kind to and patient with others, by putting another's needs before our own needs. By doing so, the children receive the gifts for which they have so yearned. There is a connection between forgetting self and receiving gifts. We have all heard the term "being full of yourself." We use this term when we think that someone is self-absorbed and believes that he is better than others. On the other hand, we have also heard the of term "emptying yourself"--emptying yourself of pride, anger, lust, gluttony, envy, jealousy, laziness, and greed. Somehow, the more we empty us of ourself, there is more capacity to be filled. Mother Teresa put it succinctly, "God cannot fill what is already full, He can fill only emptiness... We have to be completely empty to let God do what He wills, so that we can receive Him fully in our life and let Him live His life in us."
We read in our Gospel today that God found a young woman who was so empty of herself that she was capable of carrying Great Almighty God in her. How expansive and infinite God was, yet this teenager named Mary had a heart large and empty enough to contain God Himself. What a greater mystery then, that we are given this capacity to carry Jesus in us, like Blessed Mother. I know Santa's bag can't possibly fit a huge electric golf cart. But if that bag was large enough, it just might. Isn't it marvelous that just as Blessed Mother carried Jesus, we carry Jesus in us. And just as Blessed Mother gave birth to Jesus on Christmas, we give birth to Jesus by what we say and do. Again, Mother Teresa puts it beautifully and succinctly, "It is Christmas every time you let God love others through
you...yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer him
your hand."
