As we are cleaning out the leftovers from the Christmas feasts we enjoyed with our families (and are resolving to exercise more and eat less once the holidays are over), it is good to remind ourselves that the liturgical season of Christmas, that began with the vigil Masses on Christmas Eve, does not conclude until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. We take time during this season to continue our celebration of the birth of Christ into our world and into our hearts, as well as the rest of our slavation story – a story that ends in death and resurrection.
During this Christmas season, I am reminded of these words of Thomas Merton that I put on my website the other day:
The mystery of Christmas lays upon us all a debt and an obligation to the rest of mankind and to the whole created universe. We who have seen the light of Christ are obliged, by the greatness of the grace that has been given us, to make known the presence of the Savior to the ends of the earth. This we will do not by preaching the glad tidings of His coming, but above all by revealing Him in our lives. Christ is born to us today, in order that He may appear to the whole world through us.
Christmas Day is behind us (at least until next year), but our task of making known the presence of Christ continues, not only during this liturgical Christmas season, but every day of the year. And so we need to continually reflect on the question: What am I doing to reveal Christ in my life?
Creo en Dios! 