December 10, 2024
A Chaplain’s Thoughts: Christmas is coming
By Rev. James F. Quigley, O.P. ’60
Associate Chaplain, National Alumni Association
The shopping mall I visited was crowded and the parking lot jammed. You crawled inch by inch to leave and get on I-95. I looked in my rear-view mirror and the driver behind me was losing it. His face was red, he was yelling in the car, and he would hit his horn every few minutes. That went on for awhile until he bumped my fender. By that time, I was losing it, too. I stepped on the brake, put the car in park, jumped out, and walked back to my friend. As I got near his car, he furiously rolled down his window, looked out at me, and choked. I had my priest’s collar on and all this poor guy could say, looking out at me, was “Oh my God!”
“Close, buddy,” I said, “but no cigar!”
Christmas is coming. The Catholic world gets ready with Advent, four weeks to remember, to repent, to renew.
To remember: The commercial bombardment at this time of year tempts everyone to buy and buy a lot. Now, that is not so bad. Buying gifts for someone you love and care about, to show your affection, is generous and thoughtful. But the precious gift we celebrate at Christmas is the gift of God, the birth of God’s son as savior. That is really something to remember. To forget that is to reduce Christmas to a credit card.
To repent: That baby born on Christmas day is — for Christians, for Catholics — a savior. God’s son is born to rescue women and men from self-aggrandizement. Sin turns people in on themselves, away from love, ignoring the good of others. Is there something in my life that needs to be changed? Do I need forgiveness? Do I need to forgive? To repent?
To renew: To take Christmas seriously can be a spiritual life wake-up call. Prayer centers a life on the person of Jesus Christ. In silence, the reality of God’s presence in that baby refocuses directions, plans, and values. Pre-Christmas days can be decidedly Eucharistic, personally graced hours, a transforming time. Advent is a time to pray, to be quiet, to contemplate the generosity of God. God’s gift to us at Christmas, the incarnation of his son Jesus Christ, teaches us something about love. It is about giving yourself away, as God has done. It is what so many of you do on an everyday basis.
Christmas is coming. BIG EAST basketball gets under way in Advent. It is a magical time. How can you not be hopeful for the Friars? How can you not be hopeful for Christmas?
