Christmas Reflections

Update of a post originally published 12/24/21

Christmas Eve was a magical night when I was a child. My family would gather at my great aunt and uncle’s house for a big Italian family Christmas celebration. All my relatives would be there and there was more food than you could imagine. I can still picture those celebrations, hear the loudness of the conversations, and smell all the wonderful food. It was an event I looked forward to but as the excitement would build throughout the night, all I could think about was getting home and going to sleep.

At that age, the highlight of the evening was centered around one thing, the expected arrival of Santa Claus. The excitement and anxiousness that I felt would make it difficult to fall asleep as the anticipation of the past month came to a crescendo at that very moment. Eventually the adrenaline would wind down and I would drift off to sleep only to awake a few hours later, usually around 5:00 a.m. Understandably, my parents were not happy to see me at that early hour but over the years it became expected behavior for me on Christmas morning. My parents had a rule that we were not allowed to see the tree until we were all awake and ready to head out to the living room. This was a good rule in theory, but I would always try to catch a glimpse as I was making frequent trips to their room to ask if it was time to open presents. When they would give the go ahead, I would walk out and see the tree for the first time. All the lights in the room would be off except for the tree and it would look as beautiful as ever. My eyes would start at the top and then make their way down until they reached the bottom and saw the multitude of presents waiting to be opened. We did not have a lot of money growing up, but Santa would always provide. There was no better feeling than walking out and seeing the tree for the first time on Christmas morning.

As an adult, the anticipation of Christmas day takes on a different, more powerful meaning. The season of Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of Jesus, not just through the celebration of His birth, but also for His second coming at the end of time. While one of these events happened over two thousand years ago and the other will occur at an unknown time in the future, there is another important dimension to Advent and our upcoming Christmas celebrations that we should focus on, the coming of Jesus to us in the here and now.

Whether it is through our many blessings or through the kind words and actions of others, Jesus makes himself known to us every day in a variety of ways. It can be difficult to recognize Him, especially during our most challenging times, which is why it is important to have this yearly reminder of His coming and His presence in our lives. As this time of anticipation comes to an end with the celebration of Jesus’s birth on Christmas day, I pray that we may all have a spiritual renewal by allowing Him to be reborn in our hearts and in our minds so He can not only live within us but so we can also make Him known to others.

Some of the magic of Christmas may get lost as we get older but the joy that we experience by knowing and loving Jesus will allow us to experience those same feelings of peace, happiness, and joyful anticipation that we had as a child on Christmas morning waking up and seeing the tree for the first time. My hope is that through our relationship with Jesus, we may experience the joy, love, and wonder of that moment every day of our lives.

Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!!