For those of us in church ministry, Christmas is a journey. It is a journey into weariness, especially when, like this year, the Christmas liturgies begin on a Thursday, end on a Sunday, only to recommence on a Thursday to end on a Sunday. Throw a funeral or two in the midst of it all and by the time the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord arrives signalling the end of the Christmas Season and ushering us into Ordinary Time, we are all ready to exit the metaphysical wormhole that is the Christmas Season.
For myself, the mystery begins with me being quite the curmudgeon on Christmas Eve, with Ruth eager to bid me adieu as I leave for the first of many Christmas Masses. Why I am a curmudgeon? I haven’t the slightest clue. Why do I return from the first of many Christmas Masses totally changed? I haven’t the slightest clue. I can surmise why, but I have never been able to accurately pinpoint the reason why. Welcome to mystery.
Ultimately, Christmas is a Journey into Mystery, not just of human behavior but the behavior of God. Why on earth would the Logos, the Word of God through whom all life was and is created, so be diminished to take on our frailty, our weariness, our curmudgeonly natures? While one can say with quite assurance, the reason is Love, and I certainly wouldn’t argue that reason, could not God have chosen some other way to express God’s love for all of us? Of course, God could. Why God chose to incarnate in human form is a mystery. However, I am very thankful that God chose to do so.
We hear time and time again in Luke’s infancy accounts of Mary pondering the mystery of her baby incarnating the presence of God. Mary invites us to emulate her example. She invites us to be drawn deep into the Mystery of the Incarnation, to ponder anew the incarnation of her Son throughout this season and throughout the rest of the Liturgical Year. God is present around us and within us. As this Christmas Season concludes may we continue to ponder in our hearts the mystery of the God who delights in surprising us!
