Being Present
By Marcy Stenstrom
Merry Christmas! Today is so special that we came to church to sing the songs and smell the crisp, woodsy scent of the pine trees mingled with the burning wax from the candles. The choir reaches its crescendo as we get a good dousing of Holy water from the priest running circles around the church to ‘get’ everyone. We took extra time to fix our hair and make-up and put on a special Christmas dress or suit. The kids are also dressed their best even though their manners and etiquette have not yet caught up to their fashion forward styles. Yup, we’re all in this together. We’re a community today. We’re one church, young and old. We all came here today because a baby was born. We love this baby because He grew up and did something for us. And thank God we’re all here today. This means that we all declare, “Yes, Jesus is the Christ, our Savior from sin and evil.” We rejoice that there is hope for all of us. But why should this be the only day we primp ourselves to honor Jesus? Why not continue this celebration every week and come back as a church, a community next Sunday and the Sunday after that and the Sunday after that and the Sunday after that….We would teach our children that whatever happens during the week we always have one hour for God.
We’ve heard it a thousand times, ‘tis better to give than to receive’. Often we feel like saying, “I don’t get anything out of mass”, “I don’t get anything out of church”, “I don’t understand the priest”, “I’m bored”, “I’m not entertained”. But the problem in a season of giving is that we seem to be focused on the receiving. We all have the option of attending the weekly mass. It’s always there at the same times and the doors are never locked. The church doesn’t discriminate or require that you wear nametags and certainly not a badge of guilt or shame. Instead you are invited to come and share. When you share, you are giving something. You can offer prayers. You can meditate on the body and blood or the saints or Mary or someone you loved who is not here. You can simply be present which is a silent prayer saying, “Jesus, I’m here for you and I
appreciate what you did for me. Thanks for giving me a chance at heaven.” God in His mystical
presence works miraculously through different avenues. Unfortunately it’s all on His timing and not our time constraint. By sacrificing an hour a week for mass and giving a little and then a little more, we may soon realize what God has for us.
In life and especially in a family of young children, we are called to make so many sacrifices with so little in return. As a stay-at-home mom, I work so hard taking care of two little girls and very often I don’t get anything. However, every so often I do. It comes in a soft whisper of “I love you, Mama” and a gentle hug of soft cool little arms around my neck. Sometimes it’s a little hand stroking my hair saying, “Mama, you’re beautiful.”
If you listen and open your heart, you will get something. But you have to be present to receive it.