Have you noticed how discordant Christmas Carols sound in the month of May? Or in the monsoon? They don’t even sound right at Diwali, do they? There is something about Carols that make them typical of the Christmas season. They get you ‘into the mood’, don’t they? Some people like me make the most of the season. We start listening to Christmas Carols even as the Church ushers in the First Sunday of Advent.
The nostalgic memories of Christmases gone by leave me a little emotional (you know what I mean). I think of the wonderful times with the family around the dining table busy making Christmas sweets... while surreptitiously dipping my fingers into the cake as it was still a sweet, sticky dough. Oh for the times we sang Christmas Carols with the family during those chill December evenings after dinner and before bed and went Carol singing door to door. All of us were tired having done something or other to contribute to the joy of Christmas. It was the giving that brought us that joy so typical of the season.
At the risk of sounding like a ‘wet blanket’: I could never much take to Christmas ‘songs.’ (mind you, not ‘carols’) They seem to have quite a ‘selfish air’ about them…Admittedly their words were picturesque… evoking all kinds of images but the ‘spirit’ seems to be missing…Think of titles like…I’m dreaming of a White Christmas, I’ll be home for Christmas ..All I want for Christmas…I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus... and many others… I suddenly became aware of how ‘selfish’ a secular Christmas can be in comparison to a Good Old Catholic Christmas. The very Carols speak for themselves…Come all ye faithful…Silent Night … Away in a Manger…Go tell it on the Mountain …There was something peaceful, devout, generous and thought-provoking about them…The carols have a way of quickening the Christmas spirit. They will do this same for us even as we sing (or try to sing) them again this year.
You have to admit that Christmas ‘songs’ only encourage you to be a little more self-centred and a lot more selfish. Christmas is a time for giving and helping, soothing and supporting…but we find ourselves, helping ourselves, hoping to receive, yearning to be pleased… That’s where we miss the ‘Christmas-point’ with such songs entering our repertoire…We become obsessed with our ‘first person’ celebrations while others are helped only in as much as ‘I get my slice of the pie first.’
It’s Christmas once again…so how generous will we be this time?... You’ve got a real chance to open not just your purse but your heart and your home to anyone who needs your love…so that when you bless those around you from the goodness of your heart…you’ll notice a thaw in your frosty greetings and not just a melody but harmony in your discordant Christmas carols…Then ‘giving’ will be simple…I pray your heart overflow with Christmas joy…because in giving you have already received much more than you gave...(Text Borrowed from Fr. Ian Doulton sdb)
Merry Christmas Folks !!
