The Business of Christmas on an Icy Highway
January 10, 2010, Feast of the Lord’s baptism
Isaiah 42:1-3, 6-7 Acts 10:34-38 Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
January 10, 2010, Feast of the Lord’s baptism
Isaiah 42:1-3, 6-7 Acts 10:34-38 Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
First reading from Isaiah
Thus says the Lord: “Here is my servant, whom I strengthen—the one I have chosen and with whom I am pleased. I have filled Him with my spirit, and He will bring justice to every nation. He will not shout or raise His voice or make loud speeches in the streets. He will not break off a bent reed nor put out a flickering lamp. He will bring lasting justice to all.
I, the Lord, have called You and given You power to see that justice is done on earth. Through You I will make a covenant with all peoples. Through You I will bring light to the Gentiles. You will open the eyes of the blind and set free those who sit in dark prisons.”
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory to you, Lord.
The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their heartswhether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but One mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Then one day Jesus Himself joined the crowds being baptized by John. And after He was baptized, and was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son; with You I am well-pleased.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
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Introduction
Back to Ordinary Time
Back to Ordinary Time
The feast of the Lord’s baptism brings the curtain down on the Christmas season. The three kings have returned to their villas. The star of Epiphany is turned off, and the crib scene has been dismantled. The Christmas tree has been defrocked and is thrown out on the curb. The poinsettias, which don’t want to let go of “the happiest time of the year,” are holding on for dear life. Tomorrow, January 11, 2010, we will turn the liturgical clock back to Ordinary Time, and we will trudge along in the deep snow until Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2010. Then we will enter again into the Extraordinary Time of Lent in preparation for Easter, April 4, 2010.
`Business as usual’
Tomorrow we return to Ordinary Time but not, indeed, to `business as usual.’ When an angel announced to the shepherds keeping night-watch over their flocks that a Savior had been born for them in the city of David, they hurried to Bethlehem where they found an Infant lying in a manger. Then, Luke writes, “The shepherds returned to their fields and flocks, praising God for all that they had heard and seen." (Lk 2:20) They had, indeed, seen something: they saw “an Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” (Lk 2:12) And they had, indeed, heard something: they heard choirs of angels singing “Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth.” (Lk 2:14) What the shepherds had seen and heard made such a difference, they didn’t return to` business as usual.’
Christmas made a great difference also for the Magi. After the star of Epiphany led them to where the Infant lay, they did Him homage and then returned to their eastern villas, praising God for all that they had heard and seen. They, too, had seen something great: they had seen not only a star; they had also seen ”Jesus Christ Superstar.” That made such a difference that the Magi decided not to return to Jerusalem and report the Infant’s whereabouts to Herod. Instead, they took another route home. (Mt 2:12) The star and the Superstar of Epiphany made such a difference for the Magi that they did not return to `business as usual.’
Christmas made a great difference also for the Magi. After the star of Epiphany led them to where the Infant lay, they did Him homage and then returned to their eastern villas, praising God for all that they had heard and seen. They, too, had seen something great: they had seen not only a star; they had also seen ”Jesus Christ Superstar.” That made such a difference that the Magi decided not to return to Jerusalem and report the Infant’s whereabouts to Herod. Instead, they took another route home. (Mt 2:12) The star and the Superstar of Epiphany made such a difference for the Magi that they did not return to `business as usual.’
The business of Christmas on New Year’s Day
An updated version of a Christmas card received years ago reads:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings have returned to their villas,
When the shepherds are back in their fields,
Business as usual is over, and the business of Christmas begins.
One year the business of Christmas began quite quickly for me on New Year’s Day. At high noon on January 1, 1984, I was on the highway from Milwaukee to Chicago to celebrate with relatives. That highway would prove to be like the one that ran between Jerusalem and Jericho, on which a poor man was waylaid by robbers. (Lk 10:25-37) As my dog Tina and I were speeding along 20 mph amidst the worst snowstorm of the season, we suddenly came upon a young couple waylaid by car-trouble. They were trying to push their stubborn car off the highway and on to an exit ramp.
At that moment, Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan, who stopped to pour the oil of compassion upon a poor man waylaid by robbers, suddenly loomed up in me. It disturbed me, as it inconveniently invited me to stop. Like everyone else that day, I simply wanted to `mind my own business’ and arrive safely at a New Year’s destination. (`Minding your own business’ conveniently saves you a lot of trouble.) But Jesus’ powerful parable prevailed: I exited the highway to see how I could be of help. The couple gave me a telephone number. I got back on the highway and headed for the nearest phone to make a S.O.S. to the couple’s family. After performing that noble Samaritan deed, I continued on towards my New Year’s destination.
Not ten minutes later, my car, `speeding’ again at 20 mph in treacherously slippery conditions, left the highway, hit the only signpost for miles around and came to a dead-stop in a deep ditch packed with snow. Traumatized I climbed up through blowing snow and howling wind to the level of the highway. There I was traumatized even more: tons and tons of priests and Levites saw me but, nevertheless, passed me by. I waited and waited in the raging snowstorm for a Good Samaritan to stop and hoist my dog and me on his donkey and carry us to the nearest inn and telephone.
Then suddenly the words of the gospel for New Year’s Day howled in my mind even louder than the wind: “And the shepherds returned to their fields and flock praising God for all that they had heard and seen.” (Lk 2:20) Anger welled up in me, and I found myself crying out to all those priests and Levites passing me by: “Haven’t you seen and heard something this blessed season that makes a difference for you on the icy highways of life? Or are you all on a fast track back to `business as usual?”
At that moment, Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan, who stopped to pour the oil of compassion upon a poor man waylaid by robbers, suddenly loomed up in me. It disturbed me, as it inconveniently invited me to stop. Like everyone else that day, I simply wanted to `mind my own business’ and arrive safely at a New Year’s destination. (`Minding your own business’ conveniently saves you a lot of trouble.) But Jesus’ powerful parable prevailed: I exited the highway to see how I could be of help. The couple gave me a telephone number. I got back on the highway and headed for the nearest phone to make a S.O.S. to the couple’s family. After performing that noble Samaritan deed, I continued on towards my New Year’s destination.
Not ten minutes later, my car, `speeding’ again at 20 mph in treacherously slippery conditions, left the highway, hit the only signpost for miles around and came to a dead-stop in a deep ditch packed with snow. Traumatized I climbed up through blowing snow and howling wind to the level of the highway. There I was traumatized even more: tons and tons of priests and Levites saw me but, nevertheless, passed me by. I waited and waited in the raging snowstorm for a Good Samaritan to stop and hoist my dog and me on his donkey and carry us to the nearest inn and telephone.
Then suddenly the words of the gospel for New Year’s Day howled in my mind even louder than the wind: “And the shepherds returned to their fields and flock praising God for all that they had heard and seen.” (Lk 2:20) Anger welled up in me, and I found myself crying out to all those priests and Levites passing me by: “Haven’t you seen and heard something this blessed season that makes a difference for you on the icy highways of life? Or are you all on a fast track back to `business as usual?”
A patrolman back to `business as usual’
The only one to eventually stop was a mean-spirited Illinois State patrolman who added to my trauma. He grumbled about me “going too fast for the road conditions.” He complained that I did not have a renewal sticker on my license plate (it was in the glove-compartment). He even threatened to throw me in jail. And that would have complicated matters terribly, unless my dog Tina would be permitted to go to jail with me. The poor patrolman was mad: instead of being out in a raging snowstorm, he much more preferred to be home, cozily watching a football game, as he guzzled down a few beers. No doubt, he had seen all the stars of the football season over and over again, but had never seen the Superstar who could have inspired him to make a difference on the icy highway between Milwaukee and Chicago. Instead, so soon after Christmas, the patrolman was back to `business as usual.’
As I look back on that 1984 New Year’s Day, the many facets of the Parable of the Good Samaritan (that mother of all parables) jump out at me: on the road to Jericho we are sometimes the Good Samaritan, sometimes we are the poor man waylaid by robbers, sometimes we are the Jewish priest and Levite passing right by glaring human needs, and sometimes we are even thieves who victimize others.
Another updated version of that Christmas card reads:
As I look back on that 1984 New Year’s Day, the many facets of the Parable of the Good Samaritan (that mother of all parables) jump out at me: on the road to Jericho we are sometimes the Good Samaritan, sometimes we are the poor man waylaid by robbers, sometimes we are the Jewish priest and Levite passing right by glaring human needs, and sometimes we are even thieves who victimize others.
Another updated version of that Christmas card reads:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings have returned to their villas,
When the shepherds are back in their fields,
Business as usual is over, and the business of Christmas begins:
To stop and make a difference on the icy highways of life
Old Scrooge and the business of Christmas
In A Christmas Carol by Dickens, the ghost of old Jacob Marley, dead seven years to the day, appears on Christmas Eve to his old business partner Ebenezer Scrooge. After a day’s work in his `counting house,’ old Scrooge has just returned to his cold and solitary home, when suddenly Marley’s ghost appears to old Scrooge. The ghost is filled with deep regret and remorse over his past selfish life (a regret and remorse which is as heavy as the chains he drags). Marley’s ghost cries out to Scrooge:
At this time of the rolling year I suffer the most. Why did I walk through the crowds of human beings with my eyes turned down, and never raised them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have led me?
Scrooge, tries to console old Marley’s wailing ghost, saying, “Oh but Jacob, you were such a good man of business.” Wringing his hands the ghost shouts back at old Scrooge:
Business! Humanity was my business! The common welfare was my business! Charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business! The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business.
Conclusion
The business of Christmas
The business of Christmas
Energized by a Superstar we've seen this Christmas season, we now return to Ordinary Time but not to `business as usual.’" As the curtain goes down on this Christmas season, the business of Christmas begins:
To stop and make a difference on the icy highways of life.
To assure affordable healthcare for the uninsured.
To be concerned for the nation’s 10 percent unemployed.
To bridge the mean-spirited abyss between Democrats and Republicans.
To get on not with the business of the party but of the people.
To get on with Marley’s business: Humanity!
To see and hear what the shepherds and Magi saw and heard,
and then to take another route home.
