Christmas and the Seasons Change: A Father Learning to Let Go

Each year, as the Christmas season approaches, I find myself caught up in a sweet surrender to the mystery of the incarnation, that the Savior of the world should leave the mansions of heaven for the warmth of the Blessed Virgin’s womb. As a father, there is something comforting in seeing God becoming a little baby, lying in the manger on that first Christmas day.

As a father, I find that I want to hold onto the spirit of “Christmas Past” – to remember those times when my children rushed down the stairs to hand out their homemade gifts and open presents with unbridled joy. And yet, this year, I am sadly aware that my older daughter Lina Rose is half-way around the world, serving our Lord in Africa, no longer that sweet little child I used to hold in my arms.

 
Letting Go and Letting Grow

My daughter’s absence is a bitter-sweet reminder of how God turns the seasons of time, moving us ever forward on the journey of salvation, day by day. While I miss those early days of discovery and wonder with my young children, I am so very blessed to be the man God has chosen to see the fruit that he has produced in their lives. Those first words and first steps have turned into steps of faith along the road to adulthood. The laughter and the tender tears of growing up have only served to reveal the beauty of my children and the grace of God in their lives.

As my children grew from infants to teenagers and young adults, it was a joy to see them work through their struggles to find their place in the world and grow into the wonderful people God has made them to be. God has broken my heart in how I have had to let go of my children day by day; and yet he has raised my life to new heights in the privilege and gift of my fatherhood. At no time is this beautiful reality more present to me than at Christmas.
 

The Fullness of Life Live Out for Us

I love looking at the nativity scenes around my house at Christmas. This year, my daughter gave me a simple block of wood etched with an image of the birth of Christ, before she left on her 16-month internship overseas. These family keepsakes remind me of my youth and the family crèche made by my mother’s father, filled with figurines representing the birth of our Savior on that first Christmas day. Just as I grew from an awkward little boy into a man who became a husband and father, I now share in that sweet story of salvation with my own children. And the most important lesson I have learned is that we, like the Savior, were born to die.

From his birth, Jesus moved along the path of salvation as he lived out the purpose for which he came. The infant sighs that called to his mother for comfort became the cry of hope fulfilled when his purpose was completed at the cross. The tiny hands that clung to his mother’s breast one day were stretched out to take the nails for the sins of the world. The swaddling bands that cradled the Christ child were replaced by the myrrh-soaked cloths that wrapped his broken body as he was placed in the holy tomb, awaiting his second birth. Every moment of our Lord’s life was a living sign of God’s perfect and eternal love. 
 

Sacred Signs and Building Homes

Christmas unfolds with sacred symbols and tender traditions, just as the life of our Lord was the unfolding sacrament of our salvation. The Light of Heaven came to dispel the darkness. The Living Water overflowed from the True Temple to bring life to those wandering in the dry and weary wilderness of suffering and sin. The bread and the wine became his Body and Blood, broken and poured out in a perfect sacrifice of love from the cross. In him, all humanity was offered rebirth through water and Spirit. In him, the fullness of the Godhead spilled over into our lives to fill us with love, transform us in his image, and carry us home.

Jesus was born in a lowly stable and made his dwelling among humanity. When he became a man he called us to build the Kingdom where the least are the greatest and the weary find eternal rest. We are like dirty mangers that no amount of earthly splendor can ever clean up; and yet, our Savior longs to enter in and make our hearts his home. Oh, that we would sweep out the dusty and dirty rooms of sin and self-satisfaction and make room for the Son of God to dwell forevermore! If we would but open the door of our lives and call our Savior to enter in, how perfectly satisfied and ever ready we would be to live out the gospel in all we say and do!
 

Christmas Together Because of Him

Though my daughter is thousands of miles away, she is still near and dear to our hearts. Because of our modern age, we can still celebrate Christmas Day as a family as we connect with each other and share images and words of love through our computers and phones. But the truth is, we will never need a piece of technology to bond with one another in Christ. He is the One who loved us enough to come as the helpless baby who one day walked all the way up Calvary’s hill. Our family is joined together in the salvation we share in Christ, and my precious daughter and all my family members are never more than a whispered prayer away.

Each year, as I call out in my heart for Emmanuel to come once more, for the reality of the incarnation to breathe new life into my shattered soul, I am transfixed on the stable, the star, and the story of the God who came to earth. But this incredible vision gives way to the revelation of a cross upon a hill, an empty tomb, and a Savior who will one day come in the clouds to call his children home. That vision brings a joy so deep and so powerful that even this father holding on to tender memories of the past can let go and seek the brighter future that is ever unfolding before him and his loving family.

May God bless you and your precious family this and every Christmas. May you be overcome with joy at the incarnation and learn the blessed mystery of letting go as you look with longing for the day when Christ will come again carry the Church to our heavenly reward.