This Christmas

Dec 23

A hymn that crosses the border between Advent and Christmas is O Come Divine Messiah. The first verse and refrain of that hymn are:

O come, divine Messiah;
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph
And sadness flee away.

Refrain:
Dear Savior, haste! Come, come to earth.
Dispel the night and show your face,
and bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, divine Messiah;
the world in silence waits the day
when hope shall sing its triumph
and sadness flee away.

Today we celebrate Christmas, the day “when hope shall sing its triumph and sadness flee away.” We celebrate this day of Christ’s coming, Chris’s birth, year after year. Some years we celebrate with great joy and hope, and other years we celebrate, wondering when Christ will “show us your face and bid us hail the dawn of grace.”

What kind of day is it for you in 2025?

St. Francis de Sales taught: “Let us only think of spending the present day well. Then, when tomorrow shall have come, it will be called today, and then we shall think about it.” We are called to celebrate Christmas as we know it in 2025. In some parts of the world, today is a day of rejoicing; for others, it is a day of sadness. It is it is a day of hope for some and hopelessness to others.

What kind of day is Christmas, 2025, for you?

However, we find ourselves this year, this Christmas, we embrace life as we find it, in the present moment. I have a dear friend who has experienced much loss over the past year. For her, Christmas 2025 is a day to endure. She thanks God that she is here to celebrate, but that is all that she can muster. I have another friend who just learned that he and his wife are pregnant with their first child. They are filled with great joy and hope. For them, Christmas 2025 is a day for rejoicing and celebration. Another friend heard the news that his sister had died. Even though she lived a good, long life, it is a day of mixed feelings: joy at the goodness of her life and sadness at the loss of her physical presence.

What kind of day is Christmas, 2025, for you?

Each year we come to celebrate Christmas as we are. Each year, we celebrate that in the Incarnation, we experience God-become-human. Each year is different. Each part of our world is distinct: issues of immigration, war, violence, fear, hope, peace, and many more. Let us follow St. Francis de Sales’ admonition to live each day as it is, and then when the new day comes, follow the same advice.

I pray that, however you experience Christmas, 2025, you will have some sense that God is with you, today, this year, and live this Christmas with an awareness that Jesus Christ, the Savior, has come to earth. We’re closer to the time when “hope shall sing its triumph and sadness flee away.”

Christmas blessings!