Daily Meditation for December 25, 2024

Christmas is a season of gifts given and received. A smile invites an answering smile, and acts of kindness inspire kindness in return. The scripture narratives that surround the Christmas season tell us that there is a darker shadow to this wonderful feast. We read that a young woman about to give birth finds nothing but closed doors to welcome her and her new baby. We learn that King Herod is so threatened by the birth of goodness, and Herod decides to snuff out this spark of goodness by killing all the little Jewish boys in the area. This is the world that God came into. It is a world where smiles are sometimes greeted by sneers, acts of pure love greeted by rejection and violence. But it could be that Christmas inspires us to keep on smiling and to do acts of kindness. These Christmas stories may also inspire us to open our doors and take down our walls, and to both welcome and shelter holy innocents whoever they may be.

By Mara Faulkner, OSB