Christmas message

Happy Christmas to all! "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests." (Lk 2:14)

Many years ago: my best guess is 1994, I wrote a story called 'The True Meaning of Christmas'. It was one A4 page long, in child's handwriting, so probably about three paragraphs. The main character was a young boy, and this is what he got for Christmas (then followed a long list of presents, the only one of which I can remember was 'one of every type of clothes'). This is what he gave: nothing! During the succeeding year, his parents died, and by the next Christmas he was living with his uncle, aunt and cousins, I think. This branch of the family was much poorer, and each member only bought one present, which they gave to one other family member. The young boy didn't realise that, and hadn't bought anything, so he didn't get a present either (I didn't deal with the subject of why he wasn't told of this arrangement). His aunt suggested he spend the time while the rest of them were unwrapping presents thinking about the true meaning of Christmas.

That was the end of the story, which (at Mum's suggestion) I gave to Pa for his birthday. I wonder if any of my family members remember this story?

Now I will spend less time than I'm used to opening presents this Christmas, so I guess I should spend extra time thinking about the true meaning of Christmas. Obviously we start with the birth of Jesus, but I think I would move on from there and try to find a broader meaning (OK, it's impossible to find anything broader in scope than the event that marked the visible beginning of the salvation of humanity, but what I mean is I'd like to see what further implications for our lives I can see).

The main concept that came to my mind was home. This is the first Christmas I'll be spending physically away from my parents' house, and while I don't find that depressing I do notice it and miss home. All over the world, Christmas is a time for gathering at home, so what is it that is special about home?

I've said before that home is where my family is. I haven't been to Cowra very much since 2005, but when I do return, the sense of familiarity and comfort is not quite one of homecoming, like that of returning to Grampian St (my parents' house) after even a brief absence. Now that I'm semi-permanently away, I can recapture a little bit of home thanks to Skype, but if Cambridge were devoid of all feeling of home, I would be unbearably homesick. So there must be something else.

Without wanting to sound to circular in my definition, home is somewhere I belong, somewhere I feel 'at home'. It's very easy to go about my day-to-day activities here, so I always feel comfortable, never out of place, so in some sense I can be said to have made my home here already. Sometimes, though, we need a deeper sense of belonging. The most obvious place I feel this is with the group of people from the Catholic community who often gather on a Friday.

My first inclination was not to name people because I'm bound to forget others, but I decided that's no reason not to show those whose names I can think of right now how grateful I am for their part in helping me feel at home in this community. So thank you Amanda x2, Camille, CJ, Elizabeth, Joey, John, Katie, Matt, and anyone I've forgotten. Of course this isn't a list of all the people from the Catholic community who have helped me feel at home, but I think it includes most of the regulars at Friday evening dinner.

Why does this community feel so much like a home? I think it's because it's a community of love, meaning one where people want to help each other be happy, and also are happy themselves by being together.

Sometimes more mundane things help me feel at home. When I visited Washington in November, Amanda certainly made me feel at home by being such a caring host. Even stepping into the apartment, though, I felt at home. Perhaps it reminded me of the one I shared with Jacqui for a year and a half; maybe Amanda and Jess are just good at making their home very welcoming. They are themselves very welcoming people, and remind me substantially of people who would fit into the old Fenner S4, one of the most closeknit groups of friends I've known.

As this year winds down and I look towards the next, I want to make the most of the feelings of being home that I have, help them grow, and hopefully share them with others.

Now, that's why feeling at home is so important, but what does it have to do with Christmas? Partly it's just a tradition that's grown. It's one of the two biggest feasts of the dominant religion of the countries I live in, and certainly the 'easier' of the two. I think there's more to it than that, though. Christmas was the start of the Holy Family, and that family was a long way from home. I think that's the point of the story of the stable in Bethlehem. Jesus was able to be born into an uninviting place, and because Mary and Joseph accepted Him and put all of their effort into making a loving place for him, even in a manger (it's funny that now we really know a manger as a place where Jesus was laid), He was born not into a place of fear, but into a home.

The challenge for us is to likewise accept His love, and help Him build the kingdom of God, truly a home for all.