So, what is your favorite Christmas hymn? Silent Night? Angels We Have Heard on High? The First Noel? Joy to the World? O Come All Ye Faithful? Go Tell It on the Mountain? Just to hear the titles of these hymns can stir the heart into song.
Songs carry our theology, telling us who we are and what life is all about. Our Christmas songs focus on the person of Jesus, God-made-manifest. Indeed, how can we keep from singing if Divine Love has entered into history? Our challenge is to be open to the grace of knowing that we have been and are loved. This is the Christmas gift that will transform our world and our personal life.
But our singing is tempered by the darkness and evil in the world, by our own struggles be they interior or external. BUT, there is a star in the sky: Jesus is the Light of the world guiding us toward his kingdom. The darkness and tragedies of history cannot extinguish the great Christmas message: Emmanuel – God is with us! Thus, we can sing with confidence and joy. We can look toward the new years with hope, for the God who created us also knows, loves, and awaits us.