The Catholic Standard & Times - Guest Columnist - True ‘stars’ of Christmas

True ‘stars’ of Christmas

Part IV (of a four-part series)

Guest Columnist
By Susan Brinkmann

In the old French legend, “Le Jongleur de Notre Dame” (“The Juggler of Our Lady”) there was once a lowly monk who had nothing of so-called significance to give Mary and the Infant Jesus on Christmas day — except his talent for juggling from long ago.
Wishing to please them on Jesus’ birthday, he came before a statue of Our Lady and her Son, and performed his juggling better than he had ever done when he was young.
At the end, he dropped to his knees, exhausted and spent but knowing he had done his best. Suddenly, he felt a soft hand on his face. He looked up to see Our Lady smiling at him, as she bent toward him and wiped the sweat from his brow.
The story is filled with wisdom for those of us who want to take part in the miracle of Christmas even while we have little time to do so.
“During this busy Advent season, some of us may feel like the famous juggler before the Lord, trying to balance the busy-ness and noise of the season on one hand with silence and prayer on the other,” said Bishop Louis A. DeSimone, retired Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia.
Fortunately, in the midst of the bustle, our Catholic faith brings us to Mass each week, where we can pause in the presence of the Lord and listen to readings that inspire us to ponder the joyful mysteries of Christmas.
That is especially true on the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, when we hear the story of Joseph being told to take Mary as his wife, thereby fulfilling the prophecy, “Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call Him Emmanuel.”
“ … So Mary and Joseph take the hazardous journey to Bethlehem where Jesus is born in a stable, with a star showing the way,” Bishop DeSimone said.
“In his recent encyclical letter, Spe Salvi [Saved by Hope] Pope Benedict XVI tells us that human life is a journey, like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy — a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the way.
“The Pope says the true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives,” the Bishop said. “No wonder, in this holy season, our thoughts and prayers go to parents, grandparents, relatives and acquaintances who have guided us. They are our lights of hope.”
That list should also include our heavenly mother, Mary, Bishop DeSimone said. Pope Benedict writes, she opened the door of our world to God, Himself.
“As Christmas approaches, we turn to Mary to open the door of our hearts to her Son, to remain with us in a spirit of prayer with the joyful mysteries of the rosary on our lips,” he said.
“We need to spend more time contemplating Mary as she leads us to her Son — she who proclaimed that ‘God has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation,’” the Bishop said.
Such mercy is available in the sacrament of reconciliation, and it is something we all desire, Bishop DeSimone said — just as we desire to honor the great gift of the Nativity.
“In the end,” he said, “we want to be like that juggler, in that we have given our all to welcome the Lord Jesus.”