Company's coming!

Where would the Christmas holidays be without visitors?  As much as my wife and I enjoyed heading out to someone else’s home to see them, their Christmas tree or their Christmas gifts, there’s nothing quite like welcoming someone to our house for the holiday, now that we’re retired.  There’s no need for us to pack, to drive or fly; all we need to do is stay home, open the door, maybe put on a mask for safety, and enjoy!  Even though many of the visitors bring gifts to exchange, the best gift of all is their very presence! 

And so, I think again of the time Mary went to visit Elizabeth [Luke 1:39-45].  Elizabeth received Mary who had come to console her in her time of pregnancy.  But Mary, of course, brought a special gift.  Since she is “Theotokos” (or “God-bearer”), she brought not only herself, but the child Jesus in the silence of her womb as she came to visit.  All Elizabeth had to do was enjoy!

“Hark my lover—here he comes!”  This cry of the Song of Songs anticipates the proclamation of Christmas, only a few days away and fills us with expectation.  A special “visitor” comes to us; no need to pack, to drive or fly; all we need to do is stay home, open the door and enjoy!  Divine Love in person, Love who made heaven and earth, comes to the earth, to us, “to our house,” to live in our flesh and blood and to love us “from the inside out.” [Song of Songs 2:8-14]      

“Hark, my lover—here he comes!”  Among those whom we hope to see in these coming holy days, perhaps there will be a visitor, a special visitor, someone who will be a “God-bearer” for us.  Perhaps it will be someone familiar, perhaps someone whom we’ve never encountered before; yet, through their words or even their silence, they may yet bring us the presence of Jesus in a new way this Christmas.

The scriptures invite us to expectation and a new willingness to receive.  Stay home, open the door and enjoy!