During Advent, we hear a question that is asked of many well-known people: "What do I remember when I hear Christmas?" The answers often disappoint me. But I began to ask myself: "What do I remember when I think of Christmas?" In my life, there has been a certain development in understanding Christmas.
As a child, I perceived the holidays as something beautiful. Even Advent itself, when every morning from Monday to Saturday I traveled at six o'clock with friends to the rorate mass for the Lord God. The morning mass, the atmosphere, the lanterns with Christian motifs, the dim light in the church, the altars, statues, and windows all seemed different. I was aware as a child that it was different from my everyday life. The Christmas Eve dinner, where we wished each other well in the family. Midnight mass and then watching in amazement as Dad, right after returning from midnight mass, ate the last piece of carp that was left after dinner. The first and second days of the holiday were family visits to one and the other grandmother. I must hint that grandfathers were there too, but it's always said here: "We are going to grandmother." There the whole extended family celebrated together. I always took it for granted that God, who created us, came to us through family, and that is how we celebrate in families.
The period of high school brought me closer to the altar and to God. During this time, a person must use reason to decide on the existence of God. At midnight on December 24th, it was an honor when I could strike the gong twelve times exactly at midnight as an altar boy, and then the first carol began (there were no carols during Advent back then) along with the mass. The first carol at midnight was always "Bóg się rodzi, moc truchleje" (God is born, power trembles). One knew that with God, who is coming, one is fully free. And it was a time of totalitarianism and persecution of the church. When the words of the carol "power trembles" were sung, everyone knew who it was about. I will just hint that it was not about Herod and the Romans. In church, one drew freedom, courage, and felt that here one would gain the greatest strength and blessing for the next life.
I also remember the words of my friend, Father Rudolf, who always repeated before March 25th that those who do not remember the Annunciation of the Lord cannot celebrate Christmas. It is so.
In my adult life, I only realize all of this in retrospect and reassure myself of the conviction of God’s great love for each of us. Christmas, as the holiday of the Birth of God’s Son, shows the unlimited love of God and how He wants to be close to us. And when something disappoints me, whether it be an individual, a group, elections, and so on, I tell myself: "Only in you, God, is light, and there is no darkness in you!”
May good God bless all people of goodwill!
P. Ondřej Urbisz
Photo: Robert Beníček
Published in the December Parish Newsletter Farní list prosinec 2024 (3.58 MB)
