Christ in Christmas

I just received the latest newsletter from Saint Augustine’s House, which is, I think, the only Lutheran monastery in the world (or at least in the United States). I lift this quote from Father Herbel’s Advent* meditation:

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.

When we think Christmas is all about what we do, we worry and fret. But when we recognize that it is really about what He does, we enter well into the season of comfort and joy.

*Advent is the season of preparation to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world.