on opening the gift of joy, or how I scrapped my Advent 2 sermon

For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy

One of the Christmas traditions that arose in our house had to do with Christmas Eve.  Somewhere along the line it became the custom in the Felix household that you could open a gift early – on Christmas Eve. And somehow opening that early gift became a part of the bigger celebration of Christmas that we had.

One of my favourite scenes in the New Testament is when Mary (carrying Jesus) greets Elizabeth (carrying John the Baptist).  I often have the typical picture of John the Baptist as the last old testament figure - preaching repentance and calling people to account for their sins.  But what was John's first recorded action in the New Testament?  Leaping for joy at the presence of Jesus.  Can you picture John the Baptist leaping for joy?  Ever?  Can you picture yourself leaping for joy?

All through the season of Advent, John the Baptist calls us to repentance.  But don't forget what his first act as the prophet of the Messiah was:  jump for joy.  Like that early Christmas present we used to open before the big celebration, I think that John would also encourage us to open the gift of joy now.  Today.  This moment.  That's the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the gift he gives when he "baptizes with the Holy Spirit".

I am now scrapping what I had intended to deliver as my Advent 2 sermon, and I'm going to encourage us all to be like John in that first Advent:  accept the gift of joy at the presence of Jesus.

Comments

[Malcolm+]

We end up opening all the gifts at our house on Christmas Eve out of necessity. My wife and I, with dogs in tow, depart on Christmas morning for my mother-in-law's house some five hours away where we open more presents.

At our house, though, we have Chinese food and open presents on Christmas Eve. When I was attached to the Cathedral, our festivities ended with the departure for the late mass. In my current role at St. James, we begin our long standing rituals when we return from the one early evening service.

Some readers of my blog may remember last year's adventure of searching for the Christ child.