A Sunday Thought About the Christmas Octave
In the Novus Ordo Calendar we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. In the traditional calendar, it's Sunday Within the Octave of Christmas. I think the Octave may be observed in the NO calendar, but I'm not sure. It's not really noted in the calendar. You don't hear much about it at NO Masses. On the other hand, our traditional liturgy and its calendar takes Octaves seriously.
An Octave "extends" a feast day, in a sense. It says that the feast day of itself doesn't contain all that it signifies and celebrates. As you might imagine, that holds true for December 25th, Christmas Day. How can those 24 hours possibly contain all that we intend to observe and celebrate? Jesus Christ the Son of God humbled Himself and united His Divine Nature with a human nature, in some mysterious but profound way. He remained God but became one of us.
Can this astounding reality be fully observed and absorbed by our frail human brains. Can we possibly acknowledge this astounding reality enough in a mere 24 hours?
Now consider: He came to live amongst us, to experience life as we experience it (with the exception of sin, of course). He subjected Himself to the authority of His mother Mary and father Joseph. Although He was God, He was obedient to them. He worked with His father Joseph to help support His family. His daily work entailed all the exertion and sweat, all the frustration when things don't go as planned, all the joy of completing a project well and on time - all that we who work for a living experience.
Knowing how hard daily life can be, can we not be thoroughly amazed that the Son of God would fully undergo the experience of human daily living? And can we possibly express our amazement in a mere 24 hours?
He let us know, clearly and consistently, that God is truly a Father to us. A Father; not just a Creator; not only our Judge, but a Father Who loves us. A Father Who will do anything and everything to embrace us in eternal happiness at the end of our lives - if we come to Him humbly, begging His mercy and forgiveness for our sins and failings. He showed us how to live according to the law not as a mere obligation, but as an expression of our love of God and our neighbor. He did this both in His teaching and His personal example.
Can we possibly consider all this and allow it to guide and inspire us for the rest of our lives in a mere 24 hours?
And can we possibly not consider this: After living as one of us, teaching us, showing us how to love God, our loving Father and our neighbor, He took our sins and failings on Himself and offered Himself to His Father in reparation on our behalf. To do this, He submitted to a trial that was a mockery of justice; He suffered the horrible torture of being beaten, scourges and, finally nailed to a Cross to suffer that greatest agony, crucifixion, before He finally expired.
All of this He did for us.
Can we possibly be grateful enough in a mere 24 hours?
And after dying and being buried, He rose from the dead. He did this so that we would understand that our lives don't end when we die. We were made for eternal happiness. He leads the way to our eternal happiness in His Resurrection.
Can we possibly celebrate all this, all of it contained in His humble birth in a stable in Bethlehem, in a mere 24 hours?
That's how I see this Octave, the Octave of Christmas. We have these 8 days to fully appreciate, acknowledge and celebrate the love of Our Savior, born on that cold night in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago.
Today is the 5th day of this Octave. Let us pray for the grace to embrace and remain surrounded by these holy Octave days. Within our holy enclave of this joyous Octave, we continue to proclaim:
An Octave "extends" a feast day, in a sense. It says that the feast day of itself doesn't contain all that it signifies and celebrates. As you might imagine, that holds true for December 25th, Christmas Day. How can those 24 hours possibly contain all that we intend to observe and celebrate? Jesus Christ the Son of God humbled Himself and united His Divine Nature with a human nature, in some mysterious but profound way. He remained God but became one of us.
Can this astounding reality be fully observed and absorbed by our frail human brains. Can we possibly acknowledge this astounding reality enough in a mere 24 hours?
Now consider: He came to live amongst us, to experience life as we experience it (with the exception of sin, of course). He subjected Himself to the authority of His mother Mary and father Joseph. Although He was God, He was obedient to them. He worked with His father Joseph to help support His family. His daily work entailed all the exertion and sweat, all the frustration when things don't go as planned, all the joy of completing a project well and on time - all that we who work for a living experience.
Knowing how hard daily life can be, can we not be thoroughly amazed that the Son of God would fully undergo the experience of human daily living? And can we possibly express our amazement in a mere 24 hours?
He let us know, clearly and consistently, that God is truly a Father to us. A Father; not just a Creator; not only our Judge, but a Father Who loves us. A Father Who will do anything and everything to embrace us in eternal happiness at the end of our lives - if we come to Him humbly, begging His mercy and forgiveness for our sins and failings. He showed us how to live according to the law not as a mere obligation, but as an expression of our love of God and our neighbor. He did this both in His teaching and His personal example.
Can we possibly consider all this and allow it to guide and inspire us for the rest of our lives in a mere 24 hours?
And can we possibly not consider this: After living as one of us, teaching us, showing us how to love God, our loving Father and our neighbor, He took our sins and failings on Himself and offered Himself to His Father in reparation on our behalf. To do this, He submitted to a trial that was a mockery of justice; He suffered the horrible torture of being beaten, scourges and, finally nailed to a Cross to suffer that greatest agony, crucifixion, before He finally expired.
All of this He did for us.
Can we possibly be grateful enough in a mere 24 hours?
And after dying and being buried, He rose from the dead. He did this so that we would understand that our lives don't end when we die. We were made for eternal happiness. He leads the way to our eternal happiness in His Resurrection.
Can we possibly celebrate all this, all of it contained in His humble birth in a stable in Bethlehem, in a mere 24 hours?
That's how I see this Octave, the Octave of Christmas. We have these 8 days to fully appreciate, acknowledge and celebrate the love of Our Savior, born on that cold night in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago.
Today is the 5th day of this Octave. Let us pray for the grace to embrace and remain surrounded by these holy Octave days. Within our holy enclave of this joyous Octave, we continue to proclaim:
Merry Christmas!
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