After

This pouring out of the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ and makes us acknowledge that we are children of God.” (Saint Josemaria, “Christ is Passing By”, at 87).

Madonna (1914) (Man Ray)

I had some surgery this year – a few in fact – and some of them were significant.

One of the most annoying things about having surgery is that there must be a period of time after that surgery to recover.

And man oh man, does a soul need patience to be sick and recovering…!

Today is the day after Christmas…  So much time and effort is spent in preparing for Christmas – the parties the food the gifts the cards the carols and the celebration.  And then Christmas hits and then in a blink it is over.  The gifts that we purchased two days ago are on sale, the food that we spent time in preparing is starting to go bad and we are already getting bored with it and trying to think of ways to turn it into leftover-a-la-carte…  After – well, after, things settle…

And yet, Christmas is not a day – it is a season.  Historically, the Season of Advent was a period of fasting and abstinence in the Church, similar to – though not as strictly restrictive – as the season of Lent, which helps us to prepare for Easter.  At some point, the focus on Advent shifted somewhat so that instead of fasting and abstaining – taking things OUT of our lives so that we can better prepare for the things that we need to add into it during the Christmas Season – we instead focus on what we can add.

I was speaking to someone this year who suggested that sometimes the solution to a problem is not to put more into it, but rather to remove something from it…  And perhaps this same thing applies to Christmas?

“The Mass is, I insist, an action of God, of the Trinity. It is not a merely human event. The priest who celebrates fulfils the desire of our Lord, lending his body and his voice to the divine action. He acts, not in his own name, but in persona et in nomine Christi: in the Person of Christ and in his name….  This pouring out of the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ and makes us acknowledge that we are children of God.” (Saint Josemaria, “Christ is Passing By”, at 86-87).

And I have been thinking about this today, while most of us are experiencing the “food coma” that comes as a result of Christmas, and I have realised that perhaps in the season there should be more room for reflection – more time to think about the magnanimity of what actually happens at Christmas time?  After all, it is surely worth a little reflection to consider the miracle of the life that came forth yesterday!  The moment when we reflect on the instant that God Himself allowed Himself to be born – so that He could die – simply for love of me…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.