Day 4 :: Having a "Mary" Christmas in a Martha World
Job 11:13; Luke 2:1-20; Zechariah 9:9
So the craziness is upon us. The time of year where we have approximately one month to decorate for Christmas, to buy all our gifts, to go to Christmas parties, to throw Christmas parties, and to bake cookies and sweets beyond reason. It is a month long time completely filled to the brim with preparation.
The month of December, as Catholics, is the perfect month to prepare for the Lord’s coming. It is a time for us to make sure that we have prepared room for the Lord in our hearts. It is a time, amidst the decorating, cookie making and present buying, to make sure that our eyes and hearts are focused on the real reason for the season: Jesus Christ’s birth. I know many people that have started to take out the ‘Santa’ aspect so that their children don’t get lost trying to figure out what Christmas is really about. Our society has become so consumed in the gift buying, party throwing, and fudge making that we have lost sight that the greatest and sweetest gift comes on the 25th and we all better be throwing the best darn parties for Him.
But the real question is, have we prepared room so that we can accept that really awesome sweet gift that we are supposed to be throwing a rockin’ party for? Or have we just wrapped every gift, frosted every cookie, and decorated every aspect in our houses, so that we are thankful in the back of our minds without paying the due respect that is needed.
We should be preparing our hearts in such a way that, just as we clean and prepare our homes to welcome guests into, we are cleaning and preparing our hearts to welcome the Lord into on Christmas day. We are called to go to confession and go to Mass as much as possible. Pray and meditate on the birth of Christ and how we may be called to prepare our hearts in more than just the simplest ways, but in a way to make sure that we are throwing the best kind of welcoming party for the Lord in our hearts.
So have we started to clean and prepare our hearts so that we can welcome the Lord into them on Christmas day? Or are we doing the bare minimum to just get by in hoping He won’t see the dust and clutter? Let's make sure that we aren’t doing the bare minimum and that we are fully cleaning and preparing to welcome our Lord and Savior into our hearts and homes.
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