One day last week I pulled out of my driveway and soon I noticed a car behind me. I got to the end of my road and made a right turn. That car did too. That road ended; I made a left at the light. So did he. I continued, took the first exit, made a left, drove a couple miles, made a right and a left onto another highway. I found it curious that the car that had been following me since my road was still going my way. I started wondering if he had the same destination. A few minutes later, I exited, he didn’t. We shared the same path for a while, then went our separate ways fulfilling our unique tasks.
That experience paralleled a thought I had at Christmas Eve Mass this year. As I knelt with my sons, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter at Mass, I thought back to past Christmases and who I had knelt with at those times. Christmas Mass, out of all the Masses we attend during the year, is the one we usually attend with close family. So, when I reflected on my childhood, the image was of me as a little girl with my parents and younger sister. When Mass ended, we would go see the nativity scene before heading home. There were years we slept at Grandma & Grandpa’s house, and we knelt with Grandma and bachelor Uncle Bill. Grandpa didn’t go to church, so he isn’t part of that memory.
As an adult I moved away from my childhood home, but at Christmas I often returned. My sister married and brought a husband and children to the pew with us. My father died; I married and my husband and children joined us. My mother, then my husband died. My sister and her family live hours away, so this Christmas five of us walked to the front to reflect on the nativity scene after Mass. It struck me that even my closest loved ones, the family that I kneel and pray and worship with on Christmas, share my journey for only a time. When they begin, turn, and exit is for them alone. Let us accept that reality and treasure those times knowing that passing years will bring new gifts to accompany us further.
Scripture: This week, read 2 Timothy 3:15. What is it saying to you?
Call to Action: Reflect on your past Christmases. Who are the people that have shared your Masses?
