Christmas: The Crib and the Cross

Some Christian believers choose to celebrate their faith at Christmas and Easter. There is a profound understanding of the Faith in this practice. Christmas celebrates the Incarnation; God came down to enter into the human condition. Easter celebrates the Crucified Christ, raised up to God.  That mystery, as the 'Creasters’ well-know, is at the heart of the best Christmas Carols. Christmas hymns are written specifically for a liturgical setting. A Christmas Carol is a folksong that expresses the revelation of Christ’s birth. A holiday song, like Mariah Carey singing that all she wants for Christmas is “you,” is really about the sentimentality of the season. 

Christmas Carol: The Holly and the Ivy
I love Christmas Carols, however, and one of my favorite is the Eighteenth Century Carol, “The Holly and the Ivy.” That Carol dwells on the importance of the greens used at Christmas:

The holly bears a berry, as red as any blood…
The holly bears a prickle, as sharp as any thorn…
The holly bears a bark, as bitter as any gall… 

After each of these references to the Passion, we are reminded that “Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ on Christmas day in the morn.” The Carol emphasizes the connection between Christ’s birth and his suffering. The Christmas story as told by the Gospels is not a sentimental story. The Lord is born in a stable, among animals, because there is no room for him in the human. He is wrapped in “swaddling clothes” as he is wrapped in a shroud on Good Friday. His life is sought by King Herod, who thinks him a competitor. He has to flee as a migrant, the land of his birth. At his death, he is rejected, abandoned, scape-goated and buried.

Chrismas and Easter: God is not our competitor
Christmas and Easter remind us that God is not our competitor. He didn’t come to take from us, but to give. He was not born an emperor or a president. He was not born into wealth, but to  nobodies, Joseph and Mary. He does not need us, but we need him. That which we love most in life forms how we love anyone or anything else. That is why getting Christmas and Easter right is the foundation of the spiritual life.  

The Crib and the Cross
Christmas carols, like ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ are devoid of the sentimentality that dominates the more commercial elements of the Christmas season. They direct our attention to how God comes into the world and how he leaves. Faith is more than positive feelings or holiday cheerfulness. The connection between the crib and the cross is not about a tragic end to existence, but a new beginning for all humanity. The carol ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ expresses the joy-filled paradox as it celebrates: 

The holly and the ivy
Now both are full well grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown.

 O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir.

The birth, suffering and death of Christ is not a tragedy, but the reconciliation of humanity in its relationship with God. Birth and Death, the two most significant events in our life. God entered into both and everything in between. Have a Blessed and Joyous Christmas, hopefully, with the people you love. In the end, St. Paul reminds us that of faith, hope and love, the greatest is Love, the only reality that endures. 1 Cor. 13:13.