OneManGang
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(The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Knoxville)
The First Reading at Midnight Mass:
Is 9: 1-6
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing,
as they rejoice before you as at the harvest,
as people make merry when dividing spoils.
For the yoke that burdened them,
the pole on their shoulder,
and the rod of their taskmaster
you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
For every boot that tramped in battle,
every cloak rolled in blood,
will be burned as fuel for flames.
For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
from David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
by judgment and justice,
both now and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!
I first published this following bit two decades ago. I resurrect it every so often ...
Christmas Magic
We lead lives that we perceive to be much more busy and stressed than our parents did; they thought themselves more harried and stressed than their parents and so on. Every year, it seems more and more difficult to capture anything resembling “magic” at Christmas season. Those of us with small children can see the magic reflected in them but we’re never quite certain if it’s real magic or just unbounded greed at the thought of all those toys to be found on the morrow. As our children get older, they enter a kind of gray area. This is when they have figured out where the presents come from but they are concerned that if they own up to this knowledge the flow of goodies will cease. Finally, they reach the teen years where any attempts at holiday magic are met with that particular brand of scathing cynicism endemic to teenagerus Americanus. By this point, presents are viewed as an entitlement. And having to associate with the family for more than a few hours provokes heavy sighs and much eye-rolling.
Then there is the relentless bombardment of advertising and marketing schemes that each year seem to plumb new depths of bad taste.
Business reporters watch every day’s sales figures with the intensity of football fans in the fourth quarter of a tied championship game.
On the entertainment side things are no better. Drug addicted actors with multi-million dollar contracts negotiated by agents flitting about in G-4s and smoking big cigars, wax poetic about the “real meaning” of Christmas. You know in your heart that as soon as the camera light went off, the doe-eyed wonder stumbled off to another evening of “booze, weed and extasy” at some trendy club where even if YOU could get in, the tab for the evening would be equal to a month’s salary.
Of course, the ACLU feels it necessary besiege some small town or other in the hinterland for daring to point out that without Christ there is no point to the holiday. Few people anywhere believe the Constitution of the United States is threatened in any way by a manger scene on the courthouse lawn in Jenkins, Kentucky. Far too often, the antics of the ACLU and the other humbugs in our society seem more aimed at garnering publicity than in actually preserving our liberty.
The news also brings tales of the exploitation of children throughout the land. Parents’ heads are filled with visions of kidnapping, rape and murder. Laws are passed and everyone enlisted to patrol for such offenders. The only result it seems is that grandparents are afraid to let their grandchildren sit on their laps in public lest some “concerned citizen” sic the Dept. of Children’s Services on them.
After a while a certain “Grinchieness” takes hold and you just can’t wait for it all to be OVER.
There is an antidote.
Go outside tonight around midnight.
The city noises will be muted for a time, the ceaseless roar of the interstate (in my case about a mile down the valley) will fade. There’s really no reason for anyone to be out and about.
Enjoy the quiet.
Listen to your soul.
After a while, in your minds ear you’ll hear the faint choruses of angels; and maybe, if you listen very closely within yourself, the distant jingle of sleigh bells.
May you and yours have a very Merry Christmas.
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