Christmas Eve and Christmas Joy! Tonight, a Savior is given to us, our most excellent gift of love. I want to offer you a gift as well this Christmas, and it will happen while you are reading this reflection. A good friend of mine, who is an excellent writer and photographer, volunteered to write this Wednesday’s Reflection.
While Sister Ellen and I are in the midst of moving to another location on the property, I decided to gift myself and you during this time of packing and unpacking. So, I share with you Virginia’s inspirational and heartfelt reflection. Be back in the New Year.
O come, o come Emmanuel...a Christmas carol and a phrase I found myself praying throughout this Advent season in a tug-o-war with grief in the hope of finding joy. I had been inviting the noise and busyness of the season to keep sadness at bay, and the need to escape to silence and solitude to prepare and ready myself to receive the gifts of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love promised through Christ.
Every year, when asked, “What do you want for Christmas?”, my answer was always the same...I have all I need. But this year was different. There was something I wanted, needed. It wasn’t something that could be wrapped or fit in a box under a tree. In fact, it was a gift only I could find myself. It wasn’t something I could create or achieve. The gift I longed for was true Christmas Joy! To have attentiveness of heart, to see beyond life’s hurdles and challenges and recognize where God is already present.
Joy is a gift that accompanies hope. Will I recognize it through the tears of grief? Will I be too busy to feel it? When will it come? Will it wash over me on Christmas morn?
My son and daughter-in-law invited me to join them in New York City for the weekend, to attend the ballet, visit museums, enjoy dinners, and see the sights and sounds of the city at Christmastime. After a busy Saturday, we planned to hit the pavement by 6:30 am on Sunday to beat the crowds and take in more holiday delights of the city. We awoke to light snow, bundled up to make our way to the tree, St. Patrick’s, storefront windows. The snow was falling heavily as we approached Columbus Circle and hesitated for a brief moment, wondering whether we should venture into Central Park...cold, wet, and unsure of the slippery ground beneath our feet. We peeked in, but the lure was too great, and we stepped into a world blanketed in white. There it was...Joy, in the hushed sound of silent peace covering the ground. His Joy wasn’t saved just for me...it blanketed the city, under every tree, every turn, the sounds of children playing in the snow, families gathered and building snowmen, couples having snowball fights, puppy dogs dashing through the snow, young, old, a city alive, awake. Greetings of Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Happy Hanukkah filled the air. People giving up their seats on crowded trains so elderly people could have a place to rest.
The Joy I had been longing for found me in Central Park. It didn’t announce itself with trumpets blaring and symbols clashing. God gently prepared me over these past weeks to welcome Christ into the ordinary places of my life. Christmas! We rejoice not in the perfect moments, but in the gift of Emmanuel, God with us, meeting us where we are at and inviting us to carry His Joy into our families, our friendships, and our communities. The journey doesn’t end Christmas morning; it begins when we recognize God dwelling in our lives and His call to share that Joy with a world waiting.
Wishing all a blessed and joy-filled Christmas!
Virginia Portanova.
