• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Advent prepares the way for the coming of Christ at Christmas.

Christmas prayer: ‘Do you want to hold him?’

December 7, 2020
By Father Richard Malloy, S.J.
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Advent, Christmas, Commentary, Guest Commentary

What’s the best Christmas prayer you have ever experienced?

A mystical midnight Mass? Quiet adoration before the manger scene, lit by the glow of the tree in your living room? Watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” for the 1,000th time? Taking your small children to see Santa and enjoying their delight on Christmas morning?

Donating to the needy rather than splurge on unneeded gifts? Hearing “Do You Hear What I Hear”? the wonderful call for peace written in the wake of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis? Just holding a loved one?

Mine was an hour one Christmas day a few years ago.

For many years, my Christmas routine consisted of preaching and presiding at a 5:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Mass at the university; later, a smaller home Mass for friends; usually a morning Mass at a parish; and then I’d attend the 11:30 a.m. Mass with the Jesuits in our infirmary at St. Joe’s University. Wonderful prayer times all.

Then, it was off to visit four homes of families who are so good to me. The last home was with my elderly mother to a huge family’s feast who always welcomed the two of us to their raucous and loving celebration.

Late Christmas night, tired and stuffed, I would make the examen prayer of St. Ignatius, just stunned by how lucky I am to have so many people with which to celebrate the mystery of the birth of Christ, God incarnate among us.

A couple of years ago, my mother had died, and one family I usually visited was out of town. All of a sudden, it was 1:00 p.m. Christmas Day, and I had nowhere I had to be until later in the afternoon.

I went into the house chapel and settled down. Slowly, I read Luke 2:1-20, lingering on the words. Caesar Augustus. David. Mary and Joseph. The time came. She gave birth to her firstborn son. Shepherds. Great fear. “Do not be afraid!” trumpets the angel. Good news. Great joy. A savior has been born for you. An infant. Wrapped in swaddling clothes. Glory!

Entering into the classic Ignatian method of contemplation, I imagined myself in the Gospel scene. My imagination was filled with the quiet rustling of the manger. An ox and donkey snort, their breath visible in the frigid air. A few mice dart around in the straw. The musty smell of earthen floor. A small charcoal fire reminds me of the same in John 18 and 21.

I gaze on Mary holding Jesus. She looks tired, really exhausted. She’s far from home, no gal pals to help her. Joseph too looks weary. He seems a bit awed and almost fearful. How is he going to care for these two? Does he already sense the terror of Herod?

As I just sit there, being present to the moment, suddenly, Mary turns to me and asks, “Do you want to hold him?”

She gently places the sleeping baby Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes, in my arms.

As I hold the savior of the world, all tiny and baby bald, smaller than a loaf of bread, I don’t do anything. Nor say anything. Silence is often the best conduit of God.

There isn’t any tremendous grace given, nor any startling insight into the mystery and majesty of divinity. What pervades my consciousness is a sense of peace.

A deeper realization of the vulnerability of God dawns on me. A welling up of gratitude for the gift of faith, and hope for our world, moves in me. Love for Jesus, and a sense of connection to Mary and Joseph as they accept their mission, surges within me. The reality of Emmanuel, God with us, takes hold in my heart.

Carl Sandburg once said, “A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.” This baby is God’s pledge and promise that life will go on forever. Hold on to him.

Christmas in the chapel, holding the baby Jesus — best Christmas prayer ever.


Copyright © 2020 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Father Richard Malloy, S.J.

Jesuit Father Richard Malloy is director of mission and ministry at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore.

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

Analysis: Is the U.S. church’s Hispanic Catholic hope slipping away?

Chance encounter showed Brooks Robinson’s Catholic spirit

That Time We Met Brooks Robinson

Celebrating 19 years of marriage

How can I help?

| Recent Local News |

‘The most equitable path for all victim-survivors’ – Archdiocese of Baltimore files for Chapter 11 reorganization

Mount Calvary parishioners combines music, farming and family

New chief advancement officer for Archdiocese of Baltimore sees role as support for ministry

Archbishop Lori will ordain 14 permanent deacons Sept. 30

PIE Back to School Breakfast aims for $200,000 for scholarships

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Aliens, demons or PSYOPS? Catholics study, debate UFO allegations
  • ‘Not soldiers but knights’: Catholic mother mourns son and ‘brilliant’ generation slain in Ukraine
  • New cardinals have great hopes for synod on synodality
  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein, remembered for ‘extraordinary’ legacy and Barrett controversy, dies at 90
  • ‘The most equitable path for all victim-survivors’ – Archdiocese of Baltimore files for Chapter 11 reorganization
  • New cardinals say building church unity is urgent need
  • New cardinals bring experience of ‘peripheries’ to universal church
  • Movie Review: ‘Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie’
  • Cupich: Embracing ‘integral ethic of solidarity’ key to living the Gospel in polarized times

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED