Prepare Yourself

This is the First Thing

Christmas Day is certainly not summed up by the decorated Christmas tree, beautifully wrapped presents, jovial family gatherings or other sacred or secular customs—no matter how pleasant in the moment. Christmas is something deeper. Something more profound. It is a realization that God has drawn close to us in the birth of his holy child and this expression of Divine Love changes everything. Our immediate “now” and our “eternal destiny.”

Our job today—on this Christmas Day—is to allow space for this divine gift to be received. To hold it and appreciate it as God’s glorious “Gift” graciously given to us “this day.” Karl Rahner urges us to accept this “Provision of God” with prepared and pensive hearts:

The great experiences of life are of course one’s destiny, a gift of God and of his grace, but they nevertheless mostly only fall to the lot of those who are prepared to receive them. Otherwise, the star rises above their lives but they are blind to it. For the sublime hours of wisdom, art, and love, we must prepare ourselves wholly with soul and body. So it is with the great days on which we celebrate our redemption. Do not leave them to chance; do not drift into them listlessly in an everyday frame of mind. Prepare yourself; determine to prepare yourself—that is the first thing.

On this Christmas Day may our hearts rise up towards the “Sun of God’s Healing” as expressed in his Holy Child. May we not miss our moment to go deeper in Him by our fascination with lovely gifts, fun times and technological trinkets. We are created for something more. We are created for destiny’s child of eternal affection, wonder, and amazement. May we open our hearts and hands to receive this Child of Love. Today, on this Blessed Christmas Day.