Fr. Mike explores God’s role as “Creator” and the vital importance of understanding God as the Creator of all things: heaven and earth, seen and unseen. Together, we examine the questions of our origins, such as “Where do we come from?” and “Where are we going?” Fr. Mike emphasizes that man is created for a purpose because of the great and eternal love our Father in heaven has for every one of us. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 279-284.
One of my favorite Advent hymns gives this reflection its title. There’s something wonderful about including the cosmos in our Christmas celebrations. I grew up with fresh-cut Christmas trees, usually a short-needled double balsam. It would appear on the enclosed front porch one day, lying on the swing in the cold Wisconsin air for a week or so before it came in the house. There was always something magical about bringing this little piece of the forest in the house. The artificial trees that have become more practical in my adult life never quite match that splendor. Christmas can become a celebration of artifice and manufactured wonders. From the dangling icicle lights along the roofline to the inflatable cartoon characters on suburban lawns, we run the risk of treating this holiday as a time of one-upping not only the neighbors but also God. But we know deep down that no factory in China can produce something as wonderful as the tiniest miracle in God’s creation.
Each year, the pope blesses a Christmas tree and crèche in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. There’s a protocol in the ceremony that recognizes with gratitude the origin of the tree and the people whose gift it is. It serves as a reminder of the many connections among us, but also the connection with nature that has been a part of the human race from the beginning of creation. Redemption is about more than a perfection of human behavior. Scripture tells us that all creation is redeemed in the coming of the Christ. It’s good to remind ourselves of that as we decorate our homes and yards for the season.
As you plan your holiday decorations, find a way to incorporate something natural in the mix. It might be a real pine or boxwood wreath on the door, a freshly cut Christmas tree, a Christmas cactus, a dish of paperwhite narcissi, or a showy amaryllis bulb. Not only do these remind us of God’s natural world, in many cases we can watch the miracle of life as they grow and bloom throughout the season.
“Heaven could not span its Creator, but the faithful soul, and only it, becomes its dwelling place and seat, and it becomes so in virtue of charity of which the impious lack.” — St. Clare of Assisi
It has felt so good to know that I’m being of service to something greater than myself: that I’m giving my best to the people I care about, to the work that is mine to do in the world, to the good of the human family and creation. In other instances, I’ve been the recipient of the largesse of human kindness, or I’ve beheld the beauty of the natural world, freely given—and in it all, I’ve been pulled out of my small, cramped, ego-self into the gift of a greater, more beautiful, more blessed belonging. That’s it, really. In the end, the greatest pleasure isn’t having all our ego-needs met, but instead being drawn out of our ego into a wider world of belonging. We may work to cultivate this kind of self-transcendence, but it is always and ultimately a gift: a gift from others, from brother sun and sister moon and the rest of the created world, and in and through all of these, from the Creator and Giver of all gifts.
“Fear of the Lord does not mean to be afraid of God. St. John tells us that where there is love, there is no fear. Rather, fear of the Lord is to stand in awe and wonder before the greatness of the Lord. It is to recognize that God is the creator and we are the creatures. Fear of the Lord should lead us to praise and worship.”— Rev. Jude Winkler, OFM, p.95
“No one denies what everyone knows, for nature herself teaches it: that God is the Creator of the universe, and that it is good, and that it belongs to humanity by the free gift of its Creator. But there is a vast difference between the corrupted state and the state of primal purity, just as there is a vast difference between Creator and the corruptor. … We ourselves, though we’re guilty of every sin, are not just a work of God: we’re image. Yet we have cut ourselves off from our Creator in both soul and body. Did we get eyes to serve lust, the tongue to speak evil, ears to hear evil, a throat for gluttony, a stomach to be gluttony’s ally, hands to do violence, genitals for unchaste excesses, feet for an erring life? Was the soul put in the body to think up traps, fraud, and injustice? I don’t think so.”— Tertullian, p. 11
