The Sunday After Christmas
(An update of last year's post)
It's the Sunday after Christmas, the 2nd day of the Christmas Octave, the oh-so-many days since our current C-Virus Mess began. How has your Christmas Season been so far?
A
good guess: If we focus on what it's all about - the Birth of Christ -
it may be going quite well. If all it's ever meant was lots of lights,
decorations, food and drink with family and friends, could be more of a mixed bag.
For us, it's been mostly good with some of that mix thrown in.
For the second year, it's been tough to connect in person with some family outside of our household - for various reasons, some of which is related to
the C-Virus World we continue to inhabit. The whole "Are you vaccinated?" thing has definitely played a role. We'll miss the folks whose lives are driven by this nonsense, and pray for them as well.
Our household's been pretty cheerful despite all that. And those whom we cannot actually touch have been available through various media. (Technology's been bashed lately, for good reason, but let's not forget its good side.)
On the downside:
For the second year running our once annual jaunt to my brother's place, where a solid core of extended family has gathered since our parents left this world a number of years ago, was cancelled - again - because of the great Mess. The only other time this happened was when a huge snow storm hit right on the day we were supposed to drive up - typically the day after Christmas Day. So we're missing being together.
Christmas Mass - based on a command from our Diocesan leadership - re-installed the mask mandate that put a damper on things last year. The
spirit was certainly willing, but the flesh was a bit dragged down by
those masks, along with the distancing and - well, let's call it "light" attendance. But it
was Mass. And we got there.
Sadly, the prohibition against receiving Communion on the tongue (the only way we'll receive,
and, frankly, the only proper way to receive), continues in our parish. This marks the second Christmas where we have not been able to fully welcome the Christ
Child into our hearts. Three years ago, while our son lay in ICU in a
coma due to a massive stroke, we were able to attend Mass at the
hospital and receive Our Lord Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. But not
this year. Then again, I've learned the beautiful practice of Spiritual Communion when the priest insists on in-the-hand.
Who could have even imagined that "banning" Communion on the tongue would spill over into this year? But there it is.
As I observed last year, we managed - with God's grace - to carry on with our lives after our son died shortly after Christmas 2018. Despite the almost three years since his death, things haven't gotten easier. Nevertheless, we'll manage to carry on this year as well.
So now three Christmases have now come and gone in a manner we never could have anticipated.
Beginning with the Christmas Mass at the hospital where our son lay in ICU, we learned that God's plan for each of us
in our family can be a mighty mystery, one we still don't understand. When we found out about God's plan for Mass in our parish last year and this, it presented yet another mystery, one we still don't understand. What about this coming year? Well, maybe things will finally get better. We'll see.
Through it all, though, Christmas, however it comes to us, brings us one step closer to Jesus Christ, beginning with His Birth in a Manger.
Ultimately, that's all that matters.
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