A eucharistic Word: Christmas

There’s no question that much of what the world does to celebrate Christmas resembles very little of the holiday’s etymological roots. Christmas, of course, comes from combining Christ and Mass — a throwback to when the Mass was the central part of any celebration of Jesus’ birth. But it’s not hard to enumerate the ways in which something is missing from Christmas today, the ways we need to “keep Christ in Christmas,” as the popular slogan goes.

But the real issue isn’t so much about saying Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays. Keeping Christ in Christmas, or in any other day for that matter, is really the challenge of a eucharistic lifestyle. Our words are meaningless and empty when they are not upheld by our personal conformity in all we think, say and do.

The task of eucharistic living, then, is a Christmas task par excellence. Christ came to dwell among us, to be one with us in Bethlehem. And he continues to do so, albeit mysteriously, in our lives each day — if we let him in. Each day is like Christmas when Christ is born anew in our heart, mind and will when we take on a eucharistic pattern to our life.

Making present in our lives constitutive elements of the celebration of the Eucharist can help us. We always express our sorrow for sin at the start of each Mass, begging for God’s forgiveness. Each day should include some examination of conscience to help us understand our weaknesses and give us an idea of how to seek God’s help to be more like Christ.

Feasts and solemnities, including Sundays outside of Lent and Advent, include the Gloria. This hymn, which begins with the angelic announcement to Bethlehem’s shepherds at the first Christmas, reminds us that praise and thanksgiving must be at the start of all our endeavors. With this proper order, Christ enters the world anew through each of us, truly to bring “peace to people of goodwill.”

The Word of God is our sure guide in life, the blueprint for our journey to the Father. Since all of Scripture speaks of Christ, it is a primary means for becoming like him. Scripture should be a key component of our prayer every day. Reading the gospel assigned to each day in the lectionary from Mass — readily available in multiple platforms — is a simple, helpful way to achieve this.

“Christ was born for this!” as the hymn “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” proclaims. “This” is his redemptive sacrifice, made present again at every Mass and the means for us to join and offer to the Father our very lives with his. We learn in the mystery of the Eucharist how to keep alive the sacrificial character of Christ’s life in our own.

The various mysteries of faith celebrated in our feasts offer renewed opportunities to consider how they shape us.The holy men and women we commemorate at Mass day in and year out all remind us that our undertaking is more than possible — we have the opportunity to thrive as the saints God has made each of us to be.

Ultimately, taking up anew the call to be apostles for Christ, we are dismissed from Mass, sent forth into a world so desperately needing Christ. When in the Eucharist Christ is born again in our hearts, as we cooperate with God’s grace given in the sacrament, we can bring him to birth in the various facets and circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Without Christmas, the world would not know life. With Christmas, the path to life becomes clear. The Eucharist opens the portal to the truest realities of what Christmas means. The world will truly encounter the babe born in Bethlehem, through us, when we live this way. Every day can be Christmas when we do. There is no greater way to keep Christ in Christmas than that.

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