Seeing Beyond the Lights: Passing Faith and Tradition at Christmas

AI generated image of a family enjoying Christmas traditions

​Christmas Letter from Fr. Seth

This year, we had a major shift in how we decorate for Christmas. One of our daughters, on her own, started hauling the bins out of the basement. Typically, this is my job, so I was thrilled to see her take it on herself, and I happily joined in to help with the bigger bins. Then she set out to put up the decorations that she wanted for the season.

It seems to me that this act of decoration is an effort to set the season apart from others. We decorate, listen to different music, and celebrate together to reveal the uniqueness of the event that started it all. A journey down the familiar path of nostalgia also colors the novelty of Christmas.

There are the ornaments the kids made in school. The decorations we purchased in different parts of the world. The traditions we inherited from our parents, and they from their parents. These are all efforts to maintain the uniqueness of the change that the birth of Jesus brought.
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Those efforts are essential because otherwise, Jesus’ birth would be lost under waves of marketing and busyness. We would forget that God took on frail human flesh, was born to humble parents, and laid in a manger. It would be easy to lose track of the truth that Jesus’ birth was the fulfillment of centuries of prayers, hopes, and prophecies that looked toward God coming to us.

But as we look at the twinkling of Christmas lights, we can remember the star that drew the Magi to see and worship the King of the Jews.
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This Christmas, I was able to see our children taking upon themselves, in new ways, the Christmas traditions and the beauty that we have facilitated for years. My hope is that for all of us, we would see in, beyond, and through the ornaments, trees, and lights, the Savior who came to dwell with us on Christmas so long ago.

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