By DEACON ANTHONY BARRASSO
(Editor’s Note: Deacon Barrasso serves in a Maryland parish.)
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Christmas Day divides the time frame of our lives into BC, “before Christ’s coming,” and AD, “Anno Domini,” the years that have passed after His birth. Christmas reminds us of our beginnings, our father, our mother, our children, and lights and trees and gifts. We have memories that immerse us into the mystery of our own lives which did not begin with a man or woman or a serpent in a garden.
In a time before time, you and I were conceived in an eternal thought of the one God who is eternal. Before the sun knew the time for its setting, before the moon knew how to measure the months, and before the universe knew how to fill the void, you and I were known. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jer. 1:5).
Christmas links us to eternity, to all that has followed, and to all that is or has been.
We did not will our being, we did not create it, we did not fashion it: We are because “before we were formed in the womb,” He knew us. It is most certain that He still knows us. The Father also knows His daughter who is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit and the virginal Mother of His Son. The Word takes on our broken humanity, because His Immaculate Mother would simply do our Father’s will.
And you and I, whether we believe it or not, are connected to His Mother. Her Son is our brother. He gave us His Mother at the same moment that He offered us His life.
Christmas lights remind us that He alone is the light of the world. The decorated tree reminds us of the day when He was hung upon a tree and “decorated” it with His Blood. Gifts remind us of all the talents and blessings that we have been given because we are loved from eternity — even if we think we are unlovable.
But it is not a merry Christmas for everyone. Herod still lives and thrives. The Infant is a delusional threat to his given power, an obstacle to the wide path that he walks, and the unchangeable truth that threatens the lies he has fabricated. The Infant King and His Way, Truth, and Life, in his eyes, must be destroyed.
Herod legislates his immorality into law and plants the seed of his perversions into the culture of everyday life — and woe to those who resist him. These deceitful and cunning men are adorned with the robes of authority. They proclaim self-made commandments that testify to their own twisted lifestyles.
But it is Christmastime and you and I are linked to the Eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to His daughter, spouse, and Mother even before the sun knew how to set or God said, “Let there be,” or Herod unleashed his evil upon innocent children.
Some of us will live to see another year side by side with Herod and all those who try to destroy the innocent and the infants. Many resolutions will be made and forgotten. Men will pat themselves on the back for all the good that they think they have accomplished. The world will marvel at the technology that it has developed.
Christmas will come again and that day will divide our lives into BC or AD, those who do not know Him and those who do know Him. May we always remember that before we were formed in our mother’s womb, He knew us and loved us!
A Blessed Advent and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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