I think that it bears mentioning that Christmas, like Easter, is not only a day but a season. The Christmas season is shorter than that of Easter, but includes not only the day Jesus was born, but also the Feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday that follows Christmas Day, then Mary the Mother of God on New Year’s Day, Epiphany which we celebrate this weekend, and concludes with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Let’s look a bit closer at the sacredness of the experiences behind these feasts. That is where any holiness comes from, the deeper spiritual movements that the church acknowledges. Sometimes though we focus too much on the title, such as Feast or Solemnity, and overlook how profound the experience can be. That holiness can become more powerful as we apply it to our lives. Connecting with the experiences behind celebrations is what I like to call a spiritual exercise. I borrow that term from Saint Ignatius of Loyola who founded the Jesuits and has a system of prayerful activities that he calls Spiritual Exercises. I use the term in a bit less formal way. I believe that any concentrated, deliberate, prayerful reflection is a spiritual exercise. So, let’s do a few spiritual exercises to deepen our connection with the Christmas season.
We often refer to Christmas as celebrating a rather theological concept called Incarnation. We believe that God became incarnate or real in Jesus. We often refer to Jesus as the Incarnate Word of God. So, in Jesus we have the supreme example of God becoming real in human life – your life – my life. Questions are essential to spiritual reflection. What has become real in your life? How has God become real in you?
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph provide a lofty example of sacredness. When our parish community was founded, Med Laz and others encouraged people then to see themselves as a Holy Family. I would like to revisit that notion and encourage you to do a spiritual exercise of reflecting on our holiness as a family today. Parish life and family life can be messy. It can involve struggles and misunderstanding. How can you make Holy Family holier? How can your family be holier? How has our parish community brought holiness into your family? How has your natural family made you better, stronger, holier?
Mary has a very powerful title that we celebrate every New Year’s Day. We acclaim her as Mother of God. Many people, particularly non-Catholics, wonder how God can have a mother. Well, our belief in the Trinity tells us that God is three persons and one of those persons is Jesus Christ who was given birth into our world by his mother, Mary.
There are fewer more profound titles than mother. On one level it refers to women who have children, most of whom have carried a child in the womb and physically given birth. A deeper spiritual exercise inspired by Mary urges us to recognize what we have given birth to and what has given us life. All life comes from God. Once we have life, we have possibilities and hope. Life opens up the future to us, and Mary gave those possibilities to Jesus.
His coming was the stuff of prophecies. His life was and is something that all humanity longs for. Mary enabled God’s promise of more for all humanity to become a reality. Where do you find life? Do you see that life as rooted in God? What kind of life have you given birth to? What is the fruit of your work, your effort and passion?
An Epiphany is an awakening or manifestation. The story of three traveling kings, following a star, bringing gifts to the child king is filled with fodder for a prolonged spiritual exercise. What gifts or talents do you hold? Where, how and to who do you give those gifts?
The star intrigued the Magi, but its importance was that it led them to their savior. What or who are stars in your life? Make sure you, like the three kings, don’t confuse the star with its ultimate importance – it can lead you to your savior.
The Baptism of the Lord might usher us into a bit of confusion. Why would Christ the Lord, the savior of the world, need to be baptized? If that confuses you, know that it did the same to John the Baptist. He suggested that Jesus should be baptizing him.
Baptism is an immersion, a diving into. That’s what Jesus did. He totally immersed himself in human life. He walked into a dirty river and made a statement that he was one of us. He didn’t just dip his toe into the Jordan, he fully immersed himself and shared the fullness of human life with ALL human life, including yours.
Baptize yourself in all of the richness of the Christmas season. Immerse yourself in it’s richness. Give it some prayerful thought. It is a worthwhile spiritual exercise.
Remember the Mass of Rock on Sunday, January 27 at 4:00pm!