Short People Got No Reason....

Hey Guys and Gals,

I have spent the last three of Monday afternoons at the Towne Mall working at the Helping Hand “Heart to Hand” Christmas tree. On one of those Mondays I counted the Christmas Carols being played over the intercom for the 2 ½ hours I was there. In that time there were 48 carols played. Of those only six were songs about Jesus. One was the “Our Father” by Elvis. Two were musical medleys (no words) of religious Christmas Carols. So actually, in the 2 ½ hours I was in the mall I only heard songs mentioning the birth of Christ four times. But I heard plenty about winter, snow, reindeer, Santa, and even chestnuts. I promise you that I’m not putting down the Towne Mall or their choice of Christmas music that they broadcast through their intercom. They are very generous for letting Helping Hand use an entrance to their Mall to let us help needy children in our part of Hardin County.

My point is that the voice of the faithful meaning of Christmas is still a very small voice in 2009. A person has to listen for God’s voice (or be bored enough to count Christmas songs at the Mall) in order to hear God at all, even during the season of the year when it should be most likely to hear something about Him. But there is nothing new in that.

In the readings today the prophet Micah and the evangelist Luke write to us about little towns and little women becoming the instruments of God. Micah writes about the little town of Bethlehem being the birthplace of the Messiah. St. Luke tells us the story of the too young Virgin meeting with her too old cousin Elizabeth to rejoice about their Good News. The message to me seems clear. The insignificant and the small are the ones that God chooses to bring in His Son, His Kingdom, and His plan.

That also means that that tiny little voice in the Mall proclaiming the birth of Jesus may just have a chance of becoming pregnant in me, or you, or some unsuspecting shopper who might just happen to have their ears open at the right time. Today’s readings are about pregnancy in the style of God’s design. Although Bethlehem, Mary, and Elizabeth are the featured small things in today’s readings who find themselves being the earthen vessels for God’s work, the message today is about NOW (and YOU, and ME, and HERE) and not only about long ago and faraway. Just like our microscopic beginnings in the wombs of our own moms, God has a wonderful and awesome plan that He wants each of us to play an important part. May we have hearts, minds, lives, and ears that can hear that tiny voice and be the fertile ground that God has made.

Paz,
Fr. Chuck