The opening hymn brings to mind the story of an inquisitive four year old who happened to be strongly rooted in the “why” and “tell me” stage of life. The boy was helping his father set up the Christmas decorations. Imagine the scene with boxes scattered about the living room, now listen to their conversation:
“Daddy, why are there so many lights? What do all these colors mean? Why did you cut branches off the Christmas tree and hang them on the door? Did you help your daddy when you were big like me? Why do we bring a tree in the house? Mommy’s gonna be mad if you make a mess.”
Does that sound familiar? Well, the conversation continues. The little boy was helping his father sort out ornaments for the tree when he asked, “Daddy, what does ignore mean?”
The father explained patiently, “Ignore means not paying attention to people when they call you.” Immediately the little boy looked up at his father and said, “I don’t think we should ignore Jesus.”
Puzzled, the father knelt closer to his animated son and replied, “I don’t think we should ignore Jesus, either, son. I think we should give him our full attention. Why do you say that we ignore him?” His son answered, “But, Daddy, that’s what the Christmas carol says, ‘Oh, come let us ignore him.'”
The real word, as you and I both know, is adore. “Oh, come and let us adore him, Christ, the Lord.” And this is what countless Christians are doing this night/day around the world. We gather to adore Christ, that is, to worship him and rightly so, for as the son of God, he has saved us from our sins and given us the precious gift of eternal life.
Adoring Jesus however isn’t reserved only for Christmas. Ever since the first Easter, as prescribed by the third commandment, Christians have gathered every Sunday to worship and adore Christ. We Catholics call our time together the Mass, which as you can see now has a new translation. While the words have changed somewhat, the meaning and the purpose of the Mass remain the same. This is our time to worship God. Our gifts of bread and wine become for us the body and blood of Jesus.
Another name for Mass is Eucharist, which in Greek means “thanksgiving.” The Mass is our time to adore Jesus as a faith community and our time to thank God for what we have been given. Of course, sometimes we are not always grateful for what we have been given. Despite the thoughtfulness of the giver, have you ever not appreciated or been disappointed by what you have received?
The week before Christmas, a young woman, named Julie, was complaining to her closest friend, “I spend time, energy and money to find my mother-in-law a Christmas present, and no matter what I give her, she won’t like it.” Her friend replied, “You haven’t even bought it yet. How can you be so sure?”
“Easy. She never likes anything I give her. She never likes anything anybody gives her. Every time it’s the same response. She mumbles a weak thank-you if you’re lucky. Then, a day or two later, she’ll ask for the receipt so that she can get something more practical. And if you give her something practical, she’ll find another reason to return them…wrong color, wrong size, wrong something or other. She never gladly accepts a gift!”
When it came to gifts or compliments, Grandma Kellen simply could not and would not accept one graciously. Julie finally brought a beautiful snow dome with a nativity scene, thinking it would be something her mother-in-law would enjoy for years to come. Much to Julie’s delight, her mother-in-law really did appreciate the gift.
Months later, Julie’s 4 year old daughter had a temper tantrum at her birthday party because the gift of a raincoat was not her favorite color so Grandma Kellen took her to another room for a little “time out.” Julie peeked in to see what was going on. There she found the two of them cuddled together in a rocking chair.
“Now, Jenny, you mustn’t cry because people don’t give you what you wanted. I used to do that, always wanting something different, until I got that snow dome from your mother. As I kept turning it over and watching the snow fall on the nativity scene, I realized that if Jesus and Mary and Joseph could accept the gifts of the shepherds and the wise men, even though those gifts may not have seem too practical, well, so could I.”
Grandma Kellen imparts a timely message for us this Christmas. There might be a present or two that you may not appreciate, but when given out of love, there is much to appreciate, even if the gift may not seem so practical or be just what you wanted.
We have before us the most precious gift that we could ever want: the gift of God with us, Emmanuel, Jesus, the Son of God, yet how readily do we appreciate what we have been given? Our attention is focused on him here and now, but will our attention be there next weekend or the weekend after or say on the fifth Sunday of Lent or Easter? Or might we be doing just what that little four year observed? Might we be ignoring Jesus because we have too much else to do or don’t fully appreciate this gift for whatever reason or excuse we come up for not coming again and again to give thanks to our Savior at Mass?
Oh, come let us adore him, Christ the Lord, not just this day, but every week wherever we may be.