Christmas Traditions

Becoming part of the Christmas Tradition

12/20/2020

Luke 1:26-38 The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

The seasons of Advent and Christmas are intense times of timeless traditions. A tradition is a particular practice or custom that you have observed for so long you cannot remember ever not doing it. It stretches back and back, and is shrouded in “time immemorial.” Can you think of some of your family traditions around Christmas? One of my favorite childhood memories was attending midnight Mass. I dressed up in a suit and tie but I always felt terribly tired. As soon as we sat down for the readings, my head hit my father’s shoulder and I fell fast asleep. I never heard a midnight Mass homily until I had to deliver one as a priest. My parents bribed us into dressing up and going to midnight Mass with the promise to open presents when we returned home. On the car ride home, I looked forward to the hot chocolate, the Christmas music, and the alluring presents. Suddenly, I felt wide awake at 2 a.m. – a Christmas miracle!

This year, though, because of the coronavirus pandemic we may not be able to observe all those timeless traditions we grew up with. That is why it helps to distinguish between two kinds of traditions. One Tradition is spelled with a capital “T” and the other tradition is spelled with a small “t.” What’s the diff? The capital “T” Traditions never change, while the small “t” traditions can and do change. For example, this year here at Immaculate Conception, we will not have our Christmas children’s pageant because of the large crowd that always attends that Mass and the need to social distance. I am so disappointed to cancel that, and I am sure you are too. Also, we will not have our traditional Christmas carols prior to midnight Mass for the same reasons. For many of us it simply will not feel like Christmas without those beautiful traditions. But remember the two "T's" of “tradition.” We may have to live without some of our small “t” traditions. But the capital “T” Tradition is Christmas itself, the birthday of Jesus, and the coronavirus cannot cancel Christmas.

In the gospel of Luke the angel appears to Mary and announces the Good News of the birth of the Messiah. But do you realize that is not the moment when the Christmas Tradition began? The Tradition that God would send a Savior stretched back to “time immemorial.” The angel explains about Mary’s Child: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father.” In other words, the angel was touching upon a Tradition that stretched back one thousand years to the time of King David. That is why in the first reading from 2 Samuel 7, God promised David, again touching the chord of this same Tradition: “I will raise up your heir after you…and I will make his kingdom firm.” That promise was perfectly fulfilled in Jesus, the “Son of David.”

But I would suggest to you that this Tradition stretches back even farther than David; indeed, it goes back to before the dawn of history, to Adam and Eve. God had promised to our first Parents how he would send a Savior from a future Female, a Woman who could crush Satan’s head. God said to Satan in Gen. 3:15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. She will strike at your head, while you strike at her heel.” That timeless Tradition (with a capital “T”) is what we celebrate every Christmas. God promised that neither Satan nor the coronavirus could cancel Christmas.

My friends, rather than focus on or feel bad about the traditions we may not observe this year, perhaps we should remember the traditions we will enjoy, and even new ones that we might discover. For example, I have already received this year’s “clergy cut” of Mean Jean’s Moosemilk from Jean Shields. The coming of the Messiah is annually announced by the coming of Moosemilk! Here at I.C. we have added two more Masses for Christmas in the hopes of spreading people apart and keeping everyone safe. Maybe we are starting a new tradition. We will have an extra English Mass on Christmas Eve at 9 p.m. and another Spanish Mass on Christmas Day at 2 p.m. Another new tradition is how technology has helped my family to keep in touch. My family actually talks more now than we did before the pandemic. Every Sunday evening we participate in “Family Facetime.” It has been a beautiful blessing to keep in touch weekly with my nieces and nephews. The coronavirus has not canceled Christmas; it has taught us new ways to celebrate it.

All these small “t” traditions live in the shadow of the capital “T” Tradition, like mushrooms that sprout in the shade of an oak tree. The Tradition of the Woman and Child is rooted in the ground of Genesis, its trunk shoots up through 2 Samuel, its branches burst forth in Luke and Matthew, and its leaves reach heaven in Revelation. Rev. 12 reads: “And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun…and on her head a crown of twelve stars…She brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations.” The whole Bible is an unbroken Tradition, from Genesis to Revelation, about the coming of Christ at Christmas, stretching from the beginning to the end of time. That is why the coronavirus cannot cancel Christmas, but like me as a small boy, you might sleep through it.

Praised be Jesus Christ!