The Gift We Celebrate

Two good friends of mine married yesterday, and I was blessed to witness it. Here's my homily for them.

“On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…” 

Now, I am sure that Matt and Casey would certainly appreciate gifts of geese-a-laying, golden rings, calling birds, French hens, turtle doves and even a partridge in a pear tree; however, that is not why we are here on this sixth day of Christmas. 

We are here, though, to celebrate a gift, given by true love. 

When Casey and Matt first met with me about this wonderful day, I asked them about the engagement. “How did you propose?” I asked Matt. And while he explained the whole sequence of events in vivid detail, Cassandra sat and grinned. Matt told me how he carried the engagement ring around and knew that he had something that did not belong to him – something that had to be given away – and given to a specific person. But that ring is not the gift we celebrate. 

The gift is what that ring – and these rings – represent. It’s his heart. It’s her heart. It’s their very selves. And it is a gift that has been given to them by Someone else. 

At their baptisms, Casey and Matt received the life of God – the love of God – into their lives. From that moment, God gave Himself to them and He called them. That call to holiness, that vocation, for each of them was unique, but today, we celebrate the fact that this call involved each other – that they were made for each other. And this is the gift we celebrate. 

Our first reading today (Tobit 8:4b-8), chosen by Casey and Matt, shows us a good beginning. Sarah and Tobiah are together on their wedding night. And, the first thing they do together is pray – they ask God to be an integral part of their marriage, as He had been an integral part of their lives thus far. When Matt told me of the proposal, and of Cassandra’s joyful acceptance, he said that they decided to find a statue of Mary and to pray together. This is the foundation of any Christian life – even when that life is shared with another. Guys, remember this. Remember that you have one another to rely on and God to strengthen that reliance. 

Cassandra said that they wanted today’s celebration to have a definite tone – that of service, which is the heart of any vocation. Our gospel (John 13:1-15) certainly relates that tone. Jesus, who is aware of all that he has been given by the Father –all of his gifts –, shows us what we are to do with those gifts. Out of the love he has for the Father, and out of the love he has for us, he kneels, and he serves. 

Casey and Matt, look around you. This church is filled with those who have been gifting you your entire lives. Family, friends, all of us, have taught you the lessons of love, and because of this you can fully love one another. But Jesus gives you the ultimate lesson. To truly love in the Christian sense, we must give ourselves completely – nothing held back –even to the point of giving our lives for others. 

And this is the real gift of this day. God has given you the gift of True Love; Jesus has shown how that love is lived out; and now you have the privilege of living that love together – for the rest of your lives. 

We celebrate this gift in the context of Mass, where we are given God’s greatest gift: Jesus in the Eucharist. Here, we experience the fullest expression of love poured out for our benefit and for our example. Jesus’ last words to us today in the gospel remind us that his example of service is not just a “show” for us to watch, but an example to be followed, a life to be lived. 

This is the life of discipleship; it is the life of vocation; yes, it is the life of marriage. You will not only support one another out of love for each other, but you will be a sign – a sacrament – to us all, reminding us of that greatest Gift – the love of God. 

It’s a better deal than those geese-a-laying, I can assure you!

My Blog Christmas Card

So, what do you do with your Christmas cards after the holidays?

 

Have a very Merry Christmastime and a joyful and blessed New Year!

- Fr. Austin

You Can't "Steal" Christmas!

When the Grinch "stole" Christmas he believed he had pulled off the coup of his life.  Finally, he did not have to deal with that obnoxious singing, their tar-tinkers, jing-tinglers and gardinkers.  He had won his "war on Christmas."

Or so it seemed.

However, on Christmas morning, even without the presents, candy canes and trees, every Who down in Who-Ville, the tall and the small, gathered in the square and sang - welcoming Christmas.  A shocked Grinch could not believe what he was hearing, and in the midst of that simple, joy-filled song of a people who know that Christmas was more than an outward show, the grumpy, green Grinch felt his heart well up with that same spirit that brought the Whos out to the square that morning.  And, in the line of those like Ebeneezer Scrooge, he knew how to keep Christmas from then on.

Today, many often lament the "war on Christmas" - with secular demands for a "happy holiday" rather than "Merry Christmas."  We see how the celebration of the birth of the Lord has become simply an opportunity for Macy's to gain customers and Justin Bieber to sell albums, and we complain.  "Let's keep Christ in Christmas!"  "Jesus is the reason for the season!"

Certainly true.  But the flip side of this grousing is that we can sometimes use "Merry Christmas" as an assault on others - a missile fired off in this "war on Christmas" from our end.  Christians can look around and see where we are being pushed to the margins in an increasingly secular society.  It's persecution, yes.  But who else is persecuted?

Those who are different: the foreigner, the gay, the Muslim.

Those who are afflicted: the alcoholic, the addict, the sinner.

Those who are in need: the unborn, the elderly, the sick.

I know of a man who willingly associated with these folks.  He was persecuted too.  Maybe this is just where the Church needs to be in order to more faithfully identify with those most in need of God's mercy and love.  If we cannot, then we have lost the "war."

Instead, we are called to gather in the square - even without the outward show of the lights, signs, greetings, bum-gumblers, zoo-zither-parkays.  There, we can sing the simple song of welcome to the One who comes into the world in a stable, because there was no room in any place of comfort.  And yet, there in the manger, the greatest joy to the world was first proclaimed.

Social Media Nativity

What would that first Christmas have been like if Facebook existed then? Here is a fantastic attempt to answer that question.

Just to let you know, I'm still around - just really busy.  Here's some fun to enjoy until I'm back...

Vincent van Gogh to Disney World.