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Whose Birthday is It, Anyway?
While they were
there, the time came for her to have her child, |
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On the First Sunday of Advent, the celebrant at our mass talked about our Advent preparation. He ended with a reading that was written as if Mary were speaking to Joseph about a dream she had. Mary says, “Joseph, I had this wonderful dream about people getting ready for a great celebration. I think it was because of our Son’s birthday, but it was difficult to tell. It was beautiful, with much celebrating, but no one mentioned Him. Even the gifts seemed to be for everyone but Him.” It got me to thinking about ways in which we might focus on the “reason for the season.” In our family, we have a four-year-old whose parents pray with him at mealtime and every evening at bedtime. He knows the Christmas story, but he is also just now realizing that Christmas is a time when he gets presents. Like it often does, it’s possible that even in this family that prays together, Jesus’ birthday will be overlooked and the stack of Christmas presents under the tree will be the only focus. I wondered, "What could I do to help us all remember that Christmas is the birthday of Jesus?" Everyone in our family has a stocking with his/her name on it. Throughout Advent we put little gifts inside each other’s stockings. These stockings, with their little gifts, are opened on Christmas morning. This year there will be one more stocking hung by the chimney with care. The name on that stocking will read "Jesus". Throughout the Advent season we can each write on a slip of paper some gifts we are giving to the Christ Child this year, i.e., helping another family member, giving food or clothing to the poor, contributing to Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army kettle, or saying special prayers for someone. On Christmas, the slips of paper in Jesus’ stocking can be removed and read before any other gifts are opened. If your family has a special way to remember Jesus on Christmas, please tell us about it. |
