If every Catholic on south Whidbey joined us for Mass, I suspect every seat would be taken. For whatever reason, many are not here. That is unfortunate, since worship provides a great opportunity to grow in our relationship with Christ. I ran across a parody of the poem, The Night Before Christmas, which renders a fitting message for those who see little need for making time for Jesus in their busy lives.
Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house
not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their bibles were lain on the shelf without care,
in hopes that Jesus would not come there.
The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
not once ever kneeling or bowing a head;
And mom in her rocker with baby on her lap,
was watching the late show while I took a nap.
When out of the east there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter;
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Threw open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The light of his face made me cover my head,
It was Jesus returning, just like he said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw him in spite of myself.
In the book of life, which he held in his hand,
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as he searched for my name,
When he said, “It’s not here!” my head hung in shame.
The people whose names had been written with love,
He gathered to take to his Father above.
With those who were ready He rose without a sound,
While all the rest were left standing around.
I fell to my knees, but it was too late:
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and cried as they rose out of sight.
Oh, if only I had been ready tonight.
In the words of this poem, the meaning is clear.
The coming of Jesus is drawing quite near.
There’s only one life and when the last name is called,
We’ll find that the Bible was true after all.
This poem provides a wake up call. So does John the Baptist. Every Advent, as we await the coming of Christ, we hear the same message, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.”
Undoubtedly, you have a wish list of what you would like for Christmas; things you want to add to your worldly possessions. John is urging us to think of what we need to let go of that stand in the way between God and us. He wants us to fill our valleys and level our mountains, not literally with bulldozers but by attending to the details that foster our relationships with Jesus and others. The valleys he speaks of we created with kind words left unspoken, compassionate deeds left undone, bread not shared, prayers neglected, neighbors not welcomed, the poor overlooked, or the expressions of another person’s love that go ignored.
He challenges us to level our mountains of pride, arrogance, blind ambition, selfishness, domineering attitudes, any of which hinder us from experiencing and sharing God’s gift of love. John calls on us to smooth the rough ways of impatience, intolerance, anger, prejudice, racism, bigotry and favoritism that leaves anyone feeling excluded and unloved. Heeding his call to forgiveness and reconciliation could result in some of the best Christmas presents that you could ever give.
As we do our part to fill in our valleys, level our mountains, smooth the rough edges of our relationships, we can be mindful of those whom we know who are not here to pray with us. Allow them to experience the joy of Christmas by inviting them to join us for Mass on Christmas eve or morning. We have cards in the narthex for you to pass onto them.
Might they come? God only knows, but your personal invitation could make a difference. So could the example you set by choosing to act justly, walk humbly, and love tenderly. Through our example, to paraphrase Paul, may the love of every inactive Catholic increase even more in this advent season so that they can truly discern what is of value in life, thus be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, when their names and ours will be found in the book of life that he will be holding.