We are frequently exhorted this time of the year to “keep Christ in Christmas.” It is, of course, a welcome reminder of the “reason for the season” as another catchphrase puts it. As Christians we certainly ought to be concerned over deliberate attempts to empty this season of its traditional and specifically Christian content. But along with this concern we should also have confidence that Christ is able to keep Himself in Christmas. He entered into the first Christmas; He is able to enter into this Christmas too.

If we see indifference or even hostility to Christ in our day, let us remember that the culture was this way also back in the days when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Most people did not take notice of Christ’s birth, and some who did sought to destroy the Child. In the Gospel for Christmas Day we hear the poignant observation of St. John that “He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.” But if we find that an apt description of much contemporary culture, we also need to remember and reaffirm what immediately follows: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” These words are still valid and describe what can happen in our lives and in the lives of our contemporaries.

There are two comings of Christ. There is also a third coming that lies between these first two. The first coming was, of course, the one in Bethlehem just over two millennia ago. It is an event that lies within the familiar framework of time and history. Like all events in history it recedes from us in time measured by calendar years. Yet some events in history actually grow in influence and effect over the course of time. We believe that Christ’s appearance in Bethlehem just over 2000 years ago was such an event, indeed was the key and pivotal event in human history. This historical event resonates now more than it did when it first occurred. The whole world constitutes as it were one giant, living nativity with the Christ Child as the central and focal figure.

The second coming of Christ is His coming at the end of time. The end of time means beyond or outside of time. The day of the Lord is not merely the last day in a long series of days. It is not a date that can be recorded on one’s planning calendar. Rather the last judgment is the climax and culmination of all the moments of history. From the vantage point of His second coming Christ is equally present to all; no one is closer or father away from that timeless moment. His appearing at the end of time will be the insertion of His glory and Lordship into every moment of time. Believing Christians live each day now in the faith that it will be both judged and illuminated by the Son of man when He sits on His glorious throne. In the Creed the words “He will come again in glory” have as much to do with the meaning of Christmas as “He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary.”

Between these two comings there is the third: Christ’s abiding in and with His Church through the Word and in the Sacramental signs. It is this third coming that should give us confidence that Christ will indeed keep Himself in our Christmas celebrations. When the Scriptures are read and proclaimed within the Christian assembly and in the context of faith and prayer a window is opened to God’s acts of salvation of old and the Incarnate Word shows Himself and interprets “in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” The testimony of the Scriptures proclaims to us “the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest.” It offers us fellowship “with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

And when we receive Him in the Holy Communion it is always the miracle of Christmas. The words of consecration begin “In the night in which he was betrayed,” but the sacrificial love of that last night was present already in the first night, the silent and holy night when “God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Christ cannot come to us except as He came to us at Christmas, that is, as the gift of the Father and in the Body born of the Virgin Mary.

Christ will not be absent from our Christmas; let us, however, be concerned that we not be absent or at least absent minded regarding our faith. The Church’s Advent Season which leads up to the beginning of the Christmas Season is not at all concerned with keeping Christ in Christmas, but with whether or not we will be found awake, watchful and prepared to receive Him. He will be present, but how present will we be to Him? Each Christmas He comes to us as he came to the church of Laodicea: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.”

Sincerely,
Fr. Richard G. Herbel

The second week in September Fr. Richard and associate members Fr. Thomas McElwey and Fr. Del Baier traveled to Chicago in order to attend the General Retreat of the Society of the Holy Trinity. A local chapter of the Society will be formed at a retreat here at St. Augustine’s in January.

Isaias Beh Ramirez, the Mexican seminarian who spent ten months with us a year ago returned the end of September for a two month visit. While here he visited a number of local churches to raise funds and secure support for a new mission he will be beginning in the Candelaria region of Mexico after his ordination in January.

The Centennial of the birth of Fr. Arthur was celebrated on Saturday the 1st of October. The Holy Eucharist began the day. Later in the morning the Rev. Dr. Frank C. Senn gave a lecture on the daily prayer of the Church and the interplay between the monastic and parochial forms of this prayer. Following lunch there was a panel presentation on various aspects of Fr. Arthur’s life and influence. On Sunday afternoon Dr. George Weckman honored Fr. Arthur’s memory with a recital on the chapel organ.

In November Tom Kretschman from Lansing, Michigan arrived to spend two months with us as a long term guest. Preliminary discussions have been held with architect David Donnellon regarding the expansion of the present retreat house to 20 rooms. These plans are definitely long range; we have not forgotten that we are still paying off the new chapel.

• NOVEMBER by William Long in memory of his mother, Nancy L. Long.
• DECEMBER by Pastor Paul F. Kokenda in memory of Fr. Arthur Carl Kreinheder.
• JANUARY by the Rev. Dr. Wilbert Adam Boerstler honoring the 50th anniversary year of the Fellowship of St. Augustine.
• FEBRUARY by Vimal Kumar and Elizabeth Maria Chowdhry in thanksgiving for 30 years of marriage.