CHRISTMAS WORK

1 Corinthians 13 – a Christmas Version (Received via email. Source unknown) If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook. If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing. If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point. Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure. Merry Christmas and lots of love to you and yours! Is Your Family Holy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mitch Finley, CATHOLIC DIGEST, Jan. 1993, p. 39 "When the Bible says holy it means ‘separate’ or ‘different.’ The word implies being healthy and whole in a world where much is un-healthy and fragmented. The English phrase hale and hearty sums up true holiness. Holiness includes such concepts as humor and laughter, compassion and understanding, and the capacity to forgive and be forgiven, to love and be loved. That’s holiness. Holy families are not free from conflict, nor do they never hurt one another. Holiness in families, rather, comes from learning to forgive and to be reconciled, and learning to face our problems and do something about them. In family life, holy means striving to surrender to God’s light within us when the darkness around us seems overwhelming. It means struggling day after day to bring creative order—if only a bit of it—to the chaos in our lives. When we work at cultivating forgiveness, reconciliation, and community, we embody God’s holy will in the context of family life. A family embodies holiness by striving to be ‘hale and hearty,’ not by trying to be ‘perfect’ according to a set of other worldly standards." Christifidels Laici . . . . . . . . . . . Pope John Paul II, Lay Members of Christ’s’s Faithful People" § 40 "The Family: Where the Duty to Society Begins"…"The family is the basic cell of society. It is the cradle of life & love, the place in which the individual ‘is born’ & ‘grows.’" And he says, "…make the family aware of its identity as the primary social nucleus, & its basic role in society, so that it might itself become always a more active & responsible place for proper growth & proper participation in social life." "Tips for Today’s Parents" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christopher News Notes, (# 385, June 1996) 1. Prepare children for a world with great diversity by teaching respect & tolerance. 2. Give them opportunities to make responsible decisions, to gain self-esteem. 3. Encourage & praise. But do not be afraid to discipline, to limit freedom of action. 4. Let your children know you are always ready to listen to their questions & problems. 5. Provide sex education & guidance. 6. Offer love that is unconditional but not over-indulgent. 7. Never abuse or allow others to abuse children physically or emotionally. 8. Teach children to pray: strong faith will help them become mature adults. Work of Christmas Begins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Howard Thurman (adapted) "When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with the flocks, then the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal those broken in spirit, to feed the hungry, to release the oppressed, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all peoples, to make a little music with the heart… And to radiate the Light of Christ, every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say. Then the work of Christmas begins. The message of the Feast of Epiphany announces to all people, everywhere: Rise up in splendor…your light has come, The Glory of the Lord shines upon you! Let the work of Christmas begin, and let it begin with you."