Devotional thoughts for Tuesday

9. December 2014 

Ad te Levavi: 2. Sunday in Advent 

The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Jesus. 1. John 3,1

We see this apostolic truth born out in many ways, especially at Christmas time. Our culture has managed to take a Christian holiday, turn it into a generic holiday celebration and remove Jesus from it all. That is what the world does. We have to realize that the Christmas season in the world is a separate festival from what the Church means by Christmas. 

We can enjoy all the secular festivities, parties and gifts. We must always remind people that the basis for all this celebration was originally founded upon remembering and celebrating Jesus' birth. This is a daunting task, as the massive will of our culture pushes against what we as the Church believe. 

Thus the Church, in general, maintains a specific set of Christmas traditions that counter the secular message implied by our culture. We make Jesus the focus of Christmas, we sing hymns and songs that praise Him as the God's Son and Mary's Son. We rejoice in the great gift God the Father has given us in His Son, a gift that bears our sin, forgives it and redeems us back to our Heavenly Father. That, ultimately, is the true meaning of Christmas. It is a meaning that has been buried under layers of secular traditions, but at its very core our secular celebration of Christmas is still acknowledges, grudgingly, that Jesus is the reason for the season. As Christians, we can and should remind people of this Reason. 

Pryaer: O LORD, we implore You, grant Your people grace to withstand the temptations of the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow You, the Only God; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. (H77, Daily Treasury of Prayer)