They come back to us….. served up in special Christmas For you see…. they are part of our history, and our history Our history, made holy, by God becoming one of us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ St Joan of Arc – Streetsboro Ohio
They come……. often uninvited but not wholly unwelcome…..
But they will surely come…..
As soon as the Christmas tree is lit this evening….
As soon as the Christmas dinner is served tomorrow….
As soon as the presents are unwrapped…. They will come….
Who are they? They are the ghosts of our Christmases past.
Not some scary spooks from out of a Steven King movie,
nor some dour figment of Charles Dickens imagination….
No…. these ghosts are neighbors, who have moved away,
grandchildren, too busy to come home,
childhood friends, long since lost touch with,
and all our beloved dead.
These ghosts come to us at the holy time, tinged with
sadness, but so much a part of our Christmas memories
we could not banish them if we would want to….
but who could wish something so dreadful!
Our memories, and the ghosts they conjure, are as much
a part of today's celebration as the packages sitting under
the tree this very minute or as the lights that beautify our
church this very night.
They are a part of us and they are holy.!
recipes they hand down….. unique Christmas ornaments that
were theirs, and those special songs of the season that they
loved to sing. They are our special holiday friends.
Aunts smelling like lavender, Grandmother's who baked the
best bread in the world, small friends who shared their newly
arrived red wagons, and brothers and sisters who wrapped
their Santa's workshop gifts with all the love their small
hands could muster. They are our special holiday friends,
these ghosts of Christmas.
is holy. For if this Christmas celebration means anything at all,
it means that when God became a part of our human story,
our lives took on a part of the divine story.
The moments of our lives, each one of them, bears the mark of
the divine life. And therefore, the people of our lives,
all of them, are holy images of God among us.
These ghosts who visit us, trimmed in evergreen and glowing in
Christmas lights, these ghosts remind us that our story is a part
of God's story…. For God touched our lives on this holy night.
We need not fear them, these ghosts of love and laughter,
these ghosts of family and friendship……
We need not fear them, for they are our own history,
coming back to reminisce in this holy season.
And so, as I drive down the turnpike tomorrow to celebrate
with my family, they will come back to me,
the ghosts of my own Christmases.
My Grandfather fussing to make sure the house is spotless,
my Grandmother standing in her apron in front of the stove
cooking macaroni.
I hope yours visit you, and when they do, when those memories
of people not with us this day come to reminisce,
remember, they are signs to us of how holy our history is….
Our own history that is made holy by God who took on
our history when he came to Earth this very night.
Greet those ghosts with love for they are signs of God's love….
Greet them with love…. welcome them home…..
and Merry Christmas to you and to all who are with you.
By Father Patrick Ferraro
December 2003
This sermon was given at
my parent’s Church.
I thought it was so touching I had my Dad ask
Fr. Patrick for a copy to send to Vinny who was in
.
1 comment:
I wish I could recreate the setting
when I heard this sermon.
Well..... maybe I can with words. :)
Every year St. Joan of Arc puts two live trees on the
main altar. They have to be at least 20 feet tall,
and the only decorations are tiny white lights.
The altar is also filled with red, white and tri color
poinsettias.
AND........ to the side is a huge nativity set.
Fr Ferraro is of Italian decent.
I would guess he's in
his early 40's. He has very dark hair
and also nearly a full, well trimmed beard.
He's about 5' 9" and he is
a burley full figured kind of guy.
His voice is DEEP and BOOMING.......
His wonderful delivery of a sermon will
keep you awake as his voice interjects
each syllable of every word.
That Christmas Vince was 19 and as I said,
he was in Iraq. It was the first Christmas I had
ever been away from one of my children, let alone
to have him in a war zone.
Every word of this sermon just touched a heart string,
and thank goodness for kleenx in my pocket because
tears streamed down my face.
Our family of 16, took up an entire row.....
As soon as Fr Ferraro was done taking, my Dad
looked down my way....... he had matching tears. !!!
Father Ferraro lost his Father and Mother
this year.
If you would say some xtra prayers
for him and his family
it would be appreciated. :))
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