Christmas Eve

Picture by Scott DeLong. Used with permission.

Christmas Eve feels thin, as if I could reach out and part the veil that separates the earthly and spiritual realms. Christmas Eve has always felt this way to me, but it is only as I've gotten older and more mature and assured in my faith that I have been able to articulate this feeling. It is similar in feeling to the Eucharist when heaven and earth become one in worship.

The world waits in holy anticipation for the birth of the Messiah and, since we are still in Advent, Christmas Eve can serve to remind us of the holy anticipation for the Return of Christ. For that is what Advent is. The eager wait and remembrance of the birth of our Savior, and earnest awaiting of the Second Coming.

As we in the Church come together tonight, whether it be in our homes or our churches, let us rejoice in the miracle and grace that is and has come. Let us remember that without the birth of Jesus Christ we would not have the hope of His death or His resurrection. Let us raise our voices with all the angels and archangels and the saints that have gone before us in praising God for His mercy and grace. Perhaps they too join us on Earth in remembering the birth of the One who sits at the right hand of the Father. Let us all take a moment to feel the weight of holiness that is Christmas and know that we are a part of a vast and beautiful kingdom.

A kingdom that transcends time and space and all the places in between.

Merry Christmas.