Let me tell you a little about my Christmas. I took a week off to enjoy with my family. I feel it is very important to do your best to spend as much time with your family as possible during the week of Christmas. As a man, I believe it is good for my family, for me to make myself available to them.
At this time of the year I usually experience some form of internal conflict, in the form of thoughts and anxiety. Whether it is the divil causing havoc or the Lord himself beating on my conscience I can never be quite sure, but I tend to have some type of ideological conundrum to solve, just in time for the New Year resolutions. Well this year was no different.
As a child, I always remembered plenty of presents set neatly around the room on Christmas morning as my siblings and I crept slowly down the stairs; tiptoeing and whispering for fear Jolly old Saint Nicholas was still in action. We always happened to miss him. I, being the oldest, took the lead as I guided by sister and two brothers to the site of the Christmas tree. On a cold Irish morning, the tiled floor was freezing to our little feet and the previous night’s coal fire was barely glowing and refusing to provide us with any more heat until we fed it. But feeding fires was not on our minds. In the dark of the morning we usually could make out the outline of our presents laying on the sofa seats and our hearts leapt with excitement to see them. And so was the magic. I always felt a strange profound sense of wonder to acknowledge that another person had been in our living room, big, round and red, having touched these very gifts, which my siblings and I now held.
As you can probably imagine, I was always the Santa apologist of my school. I refused to the very bitter end to acknowledge the non-existence of a man who provides so much magic and cheer. To this very day I will fight any man who claims otherwise. He is magic, he is joy, he is cheer, he brings families together and breathes the life of peace into their hearts, even if that is for only one day of the year. I love the idea of Santa Claus and what he represents and it is so that, on every Christmas, I am adamant that the tradition of experiencing that beautiful, unifying magic continues with my daughter on Christmas day as I now creep down the stairs with her to discover what wonders lie beneath our sparkling tree.
So what is the issue? Well the issue is that I am my daughter’s father and I am my wife’s husband and it is my responsibility as head of the household to work for their spiritual welfare and lead them to Jesus Christ, in body and spirit, who is after all, the absolute reason for the beauty of Christmas. All those feelings associated with Santa Claus, the joy, peace, good will for fellow man, love, sharing, kindness, gentleness, respect. All these virtues are Christian, of Christ. He is responsible. The magic I speak of is Jesus Himself and it is my responsibility as a man to ensure those I love and care for receive everything. That means Christ, Who IS everything we long for.
So my conflict is, am I emphasizing the gifts and Santa and the tree and music and movies without Christ? I believe the answer is that we should never lose sight of Jesus at any time of the year and especially during all feast periods, including Christmas. As we move through the Christmas period we should always be aware of Him. When we talk of Santa Claus, we should have Christ on our hearts and minds to also make our children aware that He is important. We should set our homes up to have religious Christmas images such as a nativity scene in prominent view so our children and our wives know Christ Jesus is important. And if Christ is important to me as a father, then he will be important to my wife and child.
Mass is an obligation on Sundays and all holy days. At mass, as fathers, we should kneel before our Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and bow to Him to show we acknowledge the breathtaking magnificence of God in our very midst. For if our children see us loving the Lord God, it will also become, for them, important. We, as fathers, lead our families to prayer, to Mass, to Jesus, as we are ordained to do. We must never stop short of this goal. We must be willing to die to achieve it and with every last ounce of our breath we must ensure our families are directed toward heaven. This is what it means to be a man – giving until we can no longer give, and yet still then, finding the energy to give some more, as Christ did when he accomplished his nailing to the cross and the downfall of the devil. May He, our King be praised forever!
And so as I moved through Christmas, I contemplated my role. I would provide to my daughter the love, peace, joy and magic that I experienced in my home in Ireland. I would also, however, expose her to the love, joy, peace and magic available in every Catholic Church throughout the world, the Holy Eucharist, Jesus Himself, our King born for us.
All that is good about Christmas is Christian. All that is good about Christmas is Christ. That includes the emotions. Give to others. The Spirit of Christmas is always “What can I give?”. It is never “What can I get?” Never forget this Truth. How very masculine it is. How very human. God bless you all this Christmas time.
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