Christmas Wishes

The other week we went walking in the grounds of a beautiful abbey. Well I say "WE", my husband and children went walking, me and my bad knee had hot chocolate in the cafe. After they had come back from searching high and low for the clues in the Advent trail. They joined me for a drink.  Each of them had been given a little tag. On this tag they were expected to write their wish and tie it to the wish tree.  Ours duly made their wishes, and we tied on them on the tree. Hidden among the plentiful wishes for toys and snow, were wishes for things that moved me to tears. Wishes that were not superficial, wishes that deserved to be granted. Wishes for fathers, brothers, sisters to come back. Wishes for people to get better. These children bypassing the the mass media hype for possessions, have a far more genuine need to wish for this Christmas.

At Christmas you are bombarded with images of happiness, joy and perfect families. It is easy to get caught up and forget that many people need and want only "hope".  Hope that life we will be better, families mended, that sickness will be cured, that relatives are safe in heaven and of somewhere safe and warm to sleep and eat.  Many more still mask their internal pain and struggles behind their false smiles of "joy", praying that someone might notice their conflict and help.

Walking many miles to a town they barely knew there was a couple and a donkey. The lady heavily pregnant. They walked the path in the hope of compassion, food and lodgings. All alone, this young couple had no idea if their prayers would be answered. They knocked in hope and were turned away. They did not give in, they persisted in knocking until someone answered. It was not much this person gave them that night but it was enough.

How many people will be knocking on the doors around us this Christmas and will we notice them, will we answer them?

Christmas is about joy, happiness and rejoicing. This young couple were overjoyed with the gift they had that night. The gift of a small baby boy that gave again with the gift of a family. This wonderful icon of Christian life given to us that night, gave more than joy. It gave us hope.

This little tiny boy who lights up the darkest of lives, gave us hope. Hope for a future, no matter how we despair or suffer. This Christmas I wish for hope. Hoping I might be a better person, that I may be the inn that opens it's door and says "YES". Hoping that I might touch the lives of others in a positive way. Hoping that I find a stronger faith in the gift that is given this year. Hope that I will not forget to remember among all the happiness that others suffer.

We should open our hearts to hopeful happiness when we receive Christ on Thursday morning. That we start with welcoming this infant child and grow with him throughout this year.

To all of you who read this blog, may you have a very Happy Christmas, may your day be filled with blessings.

A little unexpected

Earlier in the week my attention was drawn back to Our Blessed Mother as we celebrated the Immaculate Conception. This is the first year when my youngest understood what we were celebrating at any level, and I was faced with a superfluous flow of questions. All of which I deflected in the hope that the sermon would answer them for me, fortunately this was the case.

All though this is an important celebration and there is lots to be said, it is not the Immaculate Conception that has been holding my thoughts all week. It is a combination of this and this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W2UrAoh76o ) that has got me thinking. Christmas starts with a little baby. This little baby was not expected, planned or convenient, yet here he was not just a life on miraculous human scale but a divine miracle too.

As much then as now, unplanned children were a challenge, more so when out of wedlock. It is a daunting thought when you discover you are to be a Mother. You have a life growing inside of you, even more of a shock when the timing is not great. A whole ream of thoughts go through your head, am I good enough, can I do this even when others think I can't, can I provide, can I love.  Despite all of these challenges and questions, God has chosen you for this life. To grow it and nurture it, he maybe understands more of you, than you do.  It is a lot easier now to decide the time is not right for you, than it was back then. In the loneliness of making a choice that affects not just her, but her husband to be Mary said "I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to your word."

I have been through three pregnancies, each time I have had doubts as to whether now is right. However, one thing I have always been sure of is that little life is a miracle, A miracle that will challenge, frustrate and  fatigue me, but will also bring me so many blessings too.

Life has it's curve balls, it has a habit of stopping us in our tracks with inconvenient little miracles. It might be hard to take on the challenges God throws in our footpaths sometimes, but I guarantee that not only will he guide you and hold you through them, he will reward you with many blessings. Christ came to us in so many unexpected ways and  grew up to be crowned a humble King of peace. He came not with the power and planning we value so much, but came to challenge that. Faith is a challenge, it is not planned but it is the greatest gift you will get this Christmas. It is love, hope, grace and life everlasting.

The waiting game.

Here we are roughly half way through advent. We are waiting for the coming new life that brings God down to earth to live among us. Our blessed mother seems to take this wait much more graciously than me. I am impatient and by the time I was as pregnant as her, I was chewing at the bit. I wanted to meet this exciting new life I had created. Ahead of the arrival my growing new life was the adventurous unknown, being a beached whale not so much.

Here we are on the cusp of a new life, exciting and unknown. We might know the story of by heart, we might think we know what is coming. However as we wait, reflect and listen each year to the coming Christ child we are different. A whole new years worth of life and experience that affects how we listen and respond to the coming new life. When I was a child I was eager for the arrival of Christ, for the advent calender to end, for the feast to come and ultimately the presents to be opened (one year I even managed a 2am stocking opening after going to midnight Mass). Patience really never has been my strong point. However I have got better at it. While the child deep inside me is still desperate to celebrate, decorate and feast, the adult in me wants the time to go a little slower. I know that the expanse of waiting gives us time to prepare for the coming, for it is never as we expect it. 

We expect the story, the food, the family, the tree and the presents. We now expect God to arrive as a vulnerable child. What we do not expect and sometimes do not even listen to is how this vulnerable child arrives in our lives this Christmas. We need to prepare not just our houses, but our hearts. This time is a blessing, because receiving new life into your life is not always easy. Those of us that have had children know that as amazing and miraculous as this baby in our arms is, it is hard work over the rest of our lifetime to nurture that life. Christ comes to us as a new life, a small child. His arrival in our lives and hearts, is not just that instantaneous moment of joy, it is that hard slog of commitment and work for the rest of our lives. 

There is much vulnerability in the lives around us. There is pain, fear, depression, poverty and wars. How we prepare and listen this advent, effects how we respond to these and how we see Christ in our lives. The Christ child came to give us the most miraculous of gifts and all gifts are best shared. Now in this time, prepare to listen, prepare to respond and be prepared to share the rest of your life with Christ.