Derek Lang
Earlier this week, a student was telling me about his transition from attending non-denominational churches to Catholicism. He was tired of what he saw as fads and here-and-now religion, and sought something with more “reverence.” He sought something that was grounded in the constancy of God – the “past, present, and always”-ness of God. He valued the tradition of over 2,000 years of church and communion of saints, i.e., that connection with those who have walked the path before him.
This Sunday’s theme is about “Possibility.” I often think of possibility as something new and different. When I left high school for college, I never kept in touch with my old school friends because I shed myself of the past so I could try something completely amazing and wonderful. Sometimes the past can hold us back from being open to these new things that God is calling us to, and we have to let go and trust in God. But there is also a part of the past that reminds me of how God has been faithful to me generation after generation. I find hope and comfort in knowing that God was with those who walked before us and will be with us as we walk to the future.
In Sunday School, we find there are so many wonderful scriptures surrounding Christmas. Within the four weeks of Advent, it is sometimes a challenge to fit in the Nativity Story – the angel’s visit to Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph, the trip by Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem , a child in swaddling cloth at the manger, the star that led the Magi, and the host of angels upon the shepherds. Yet, we try to squeeze it in – we have to squeeze it in - because it is such a powerful story. It is a story that has lasted and been told over and over through the millennia. It is a story that offers hope, comfort, joy, and wonderful new possibilities. It is the story of Jesus. And that story is God’s gift to us to share with the world.