Christmas Every Moment

Somewhere along the line, as we grew up, Christmas changed from the joy of what came to us to the joy of what we gave away.

It changed from unwrapping gifts to wrapping them, from what we ate to what we prepared, from our own smiles to enjoying the smiles of our loved ones.

And in that transformation, so much falls away. We’ve all seen it. If a disagreement crops up, someone says simply, ‘It’s Christmas’, and the disagreement is shelved. If someone rubs us the wrong way, it’s Christmas, and we let it go.

Christmas calls out the best in us. We become other-centered. And when we are other-centered, we are Christ-centered.

In the middle of First Corinthians, Paul says, ‘[Love] does not seek its own interests.’

Can you think of a day other than Christmas when this is not more true!

While on a single December day we celebrate the physical birth of Christ, all the other days are also ripe for his re-emergence into the world. And therein lies such a strength of our faith – that Christ is so constantly accessible and so readily re-born through our gratitude, our relations with others, our sharing, our prayers, our willingness to forgive, and yes, through our actions.

Sometimes it’s easy allowing this re-emergence through us. Sometimes it’s not.

It’s easy when we pray. It’s easy when we show gratitude. But when it’s time to break bread with those with whom we mightily disagree, then it can be hard to allow Jesus in. When hands of friendship are slapped away, it’s hard to extend those hands again. When we are falsely maligned, it’s hard to forgive as Jesus would.

And when we are asked for the benefit of others to put our very lives on the line – as was Sister Dorothy Stang in the Amazon – the re-birth of Jesus into this world – through us – can be excruciating.

As people of faith we are called not to seek first our own interests but instead to embrace and uplift our brothers and sisters – on Christmas and every day.

For Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, this means foregoing marriage and children that we might give our love to everyone. It means pooling our possessions. It means vows of obedience. It means re-using water six and seven times in ministries where water is scarce. It means days without electricity, without refrigeration. It means setting aside our own ambitions and desires. It means, at times, lives fraught with danger.

And yet, as Paul says, in seeking not to meet our own needs but the needs of others, we bring love into the world, we bring Christ into the world. With you beside us – adding your light to our light – we are somewhere, somehow making it Christmas every day and in every moment.

When we do this, and when you do this – when we bypass self and know we have done so – we feel it down to our core in that quiet place where Christ is reborn.

Please support our work in this holy season. On behalf of our Sisters, I wish you and yours a blessed Christmas!

Sincerely,

 

 

Kathleen Harmon, SNDdeN
Provincial