And as always, people will now look ahead at the coming of "the most wonderful time of the year" - christmas. On a personal note, christmas is also my favorite time of the year. Maybe it's because of my childhood. My memories of christmases are all happy and warm. For me, there is always a silent joy and inner peace during this season. Now, in 2006, christmas will still be as special as it is.
Yuletide 06. Looking back at all the experiences of 2006, I know that "this christmas will be a very special christmas for me".Christmas trees. Christmas lights. Christmas songs. Christmas cards and gifts. It's really a time to be merry. More so, this coming christmas will be a season of silent merriment for me. There is a feeling of accomplishment, contentment, and satisfaction inside me. As early as November, i can already feel it.
A while ago, I was listening to Vespers 4: The Work of Christmas (a compilation of instrumental christmas songs produced by the Jesuit Music Ministry) while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate by the window. From there I can see the bright christmas lights of the many houses already decorated since mid-october. I got the inlay of the cd and read it and found it too beautiful not to share. It's a very good reading, as written by Fr. Nemy S. Que, SJ:
Christmas came, fittingly, with a child born in a manger bed... a gift wrapped in swaddling clothes. Today, this child-gift is celebrated in gifts we give to one another as a sign of our love and affection. We can no longer imagine christmas without these gifts, tokens of friendship and thoughtfulness.
And neither can we now imagine Christmas without families and friends gathered around the table to feast on great foods. And every home is lit with christmas lights of various colors and brilliance... that lead to a trail to that bright star which lit the stable that the christmas child called his home on earth.
And chrismas without music would be like that first holy and silent night without the angels singing the christmas child to sleep in peace.
Vespers 4: The Work of Christmas is an invitation to celebrate the christmas child who came to join us in our struggles, aspirations and hopes. It calls us to come worship him who has been born in our hearts and who continues to feed the fire of deep love. Vespers summons us to rest in the peace of the christmas child of whom the angels sang... and in that peace be stilled to listen attentively to the song of the angels... and then, with trust and confidence, to ponder the word who is the christmas child in our hearts. Only when we are silent is the word of God spoken, only in the stillness does darkness move towards light. That is why the christmas child was spoken one silent night, and made flesh to those who waited in silent openness. Vespers brings us there...
Vespers brings us even beyond the glitter and joyous merriment of today's christmas. It sings of joy for the world, and hope for the people that walked in darkness, hope for our families, nations, and all peoples. The christmas child is kept alive when it reaches ours. The work of christmas continues in us.
Vespers encourages us to carry our work of christmas.
When the song of angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shephereds are back with their flock,
The work of christmas begins.
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.
Merry christmas in advance, everyone. May we continue to carry our work of christmas. Ü
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