“Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord.” Time in the Liturgical Year is not chronological. On my birthday, I don’t say, “Today I was born,” but “I was born on this day.” We know as we measure time, Christ is not born today; he was born over 2,000 years ago.
But sacred time is a different measure. Past, present, and future come together. We can sing “Today is born our Savior,” because we aren’t just remembering events from the past. These events have a reality today that doesn’t fit our measurement of time.
It can be easy to assume everyone knows what we are doing when we celebrate Christmas. Of course, Christmas is about a baby. But we undermine the celebration if we overemphasize the baby and forget the significance of the event. After all, we cannot pretend we don’t know the end of the story. We know what happens when this baby grows up. We know how this baby will die.
Many of the symbols of Christmas can be said to relate to Jesus’ passion and death. The red color of the poinsettia is said to represent the blood shed by Christ. The sharp edges of the holly leaf are like the crown of thorns, the red holly berries like his blood. The swaddling cloth can relate to the burial cloth, the wood of the manger to the wood of the cross. But we are never just about Christ’s passion; this child who will suffer and die a horrible death will conquer death forever by rising from the dead.
The significance of this birth event is that we believe we know the real beginning of this story, that is, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God took human form and showed us how to live a selfless life of service and love. God taught us that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend.
How easy it is to get caught up in the baby – everyone loves a new baby! But we have been given a marvelous surprise – the baby is God.
Today Christ lives among us. Today, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Today, the Word continues to dwell among us. Today, we can receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Today, Christ can live in my heart.
Reflection: How do the symbols of Christmas and the elements of the Christmas liturgy speak to my own faith right now? Which symbols or elements touch me the most? In what ways do I or can I use these symbols or liturgical elements for my own prayer and reflection?