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Email a FriendThis past Sunday, our priest shared the story of one of the little girls in our CCD program who is four. She was sitting with Sister Kathleen in front of the St. Joseph statue in our church. The little girl pointed to the baby Jesus holding a small cross in his hands in St. Joseph’s arms and asked, “Who is that?” Sister Kathleen said, “That’s baby Jesus.” Then Sister pointed to Jesus on the cross above the altar and said, “That’s baby Jesus all grown up.” The little girl looked at the baby and then the grown man and said, “Did the cross grow up, too?” Our priest said, “Yes. Yes. The four year old sees so clearly what we choose not to see. People—the cross must grow up in our own lives. Christmas is not an exercise in memory and nostalgia. His birth must be seen in the light of his life, death, and resurrection. Is the cross growing up in your life?” I really felt convicted by this and it is a question I will be asking myself in the days and months and years to come. Thank you for all your thoughtful posts.
The Big Picture of Christmas
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 9:00 PM
Several years ago, Amy Welborn wrote a beautiful piece for The National Review Online about “the dark side of Christmas.” Every year, I end up reflecting on that article, reminded of it perhaps in a moment of stress or pre-Christmas fatigue, or possibly by a nudge of the Holy Spirit. Do go read it. It’s wonderful.
Here’s the money shot:
Glad tidings of comfort and joy, and Merry Christmas indeed. But without awareness of the risk of discipleship, and the reality that the baby in the manger ends up hanging on a cross, those words have about as little power to change the world as “Happy Holidays.”
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How very true it is—To not see the point of His birth, how it ties to His death, and what that means for us all. I fear too many see each event
so individually, on Christmas and Good Friday/Easter, that the impact if it all is lost.
On our Christmas card this year, I felt the need to send out that reminder, with the words:
His birth was for His death.
His death was for OUR birth.
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