Living the Life of Holiness - January 1, 2023

It is interesting to note that one of the best attended Masses of the year is Ash Wednesday, which is not a Holy Day of Obligation; and yet, it has a deep hold on the average Catholic.  That is a good thing since Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent - which is a preparation for the greatest feast of them all - Easter: the Lord's Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

The least celebrated Mass, aside from daily Masses, IS a Holy Day of Obligation: the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God: the octave day of Christmas formerly known as the Feast of the Circumcision.  Why is this feast so "off the radar" for so many?  I think there are a couple of reasons.

One issue is that it falls on civil observance of New Year’s Day.  On New Year’s Eve many are focused on the evening’s parties leading up to mid-night and the new year.  In the morning many are tired from the previous night’s festivities; and when they do stir from their beds are focused on the day’s celebrating and football games.

Another issue is that, when Christmas and New Years don’t fall on a Sunday, it can be a liturgically intensive time – that means lots of Masses.  This too can be difficult for those who haven’t yet acquired a real love for the Mass itself (as opposed to recognizing the duty or obligation to attend), nor is there developed a desire to explore and contemplate the many facets of the mystery of the Incarnation, which is what the celebration of the Christmas season is all about.

That leads us to a further problem in developing this desire: a clear understanding of what we celebrate at Christmas.  For many, including many Catholics, the Christmas season has been taken over by the civil observance of Christmas which has flipped the meaning of Christmas and replaced the object of the celebration with its effects.

I asked some of our young people the other day what Christmas is about.  I got answers like "family", "presents", "love".  These things are all very nice, but they are, in fact, the effects of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh (in carne).  This birth is the object and is thus what we need to be focused on first and foremost: the eternal Word has come among us and made himself present to us in our own flesh.  And why has He done this?  To bring peace? Yes!  To bring love? Yes!  But, why? To take away our sins and bring us into full communion with Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit.  As I asked a few of the kids this week: Have you ever made a connection between Christmas and Confession?  The answer was "No".  I asked again: Will you from now on? The answer was "Yes".

As I noted previously, this octave day of Christmas celebrates a number of facets which fill out the tapestry that is our celebration of the Lord’s incarnation.  The first is the circumcision of our Lord according to the Law of Moses.  This is a significant day in the life of an infant as it is the day on which he becomes a member of the covenant community of Israel.  Along with that, it is the day on which the child receives the name by which he will be known within that covenant community.

We have an idea of what this is all about.  At Baptism a person is initiated into the covenant community we call the Church.  And what is the first question asked of the parents in that liturgy?  What name do you give your child?  So, we understand that in this initiation into the covenant community the name by which we will be known within the covenant community plays an important role.

This naming of the Lord Jesus is so important that the Church traditionally gives us the whole month of January to meditate on his "Holy Name".  The Holy Name of Jesus is such an important object of meditation that St. Ignatius of Loyola made our Lord's monogram the symbol of the Jesuit Order.

Another aspect of this day is a further revelation of just who this child is.  This comes about in the recognition of his mother; an odd sort of way to go about it, but this comes about because of the heresy which led to the Third Ecumenical Council held at Ephesus in 431; the heresy known as the Nestorian heresy which held that Mary could rightly be called the “Mother of Christ”, but not the “Mother of God”.  At the root of this argument is the issue of the dual nature of Christ and how that works.  So, as I’ve pointed out before, “taking away from the due honors of Mary takes away from our understanding of her Son”.  And so, it is quite right for her to be called "Theotokos" (Greek for "God-bearer") or, Mother of God.

Happily, today, as Sunday, is a day on which we can come to a greater appreciation for this important feast.  Hopefully all, having grown in their appreciation of this facet of the Christmas mystery, will from now on desire to be present for the celebration of this holy day even when it doesn’t fall on a Sunday - like next year, when it will fall on Monday!