[1] “What shall we name the
baby?” Let’s play a game. I’ll call out children’s name and you name the
children’s parents:
1. Fifi Trixibelle, Little Pixie, & Peaches Honeyblossom are
daughters of …?
2. Blue Ivy is the daughter of …?
Different cultures at
different times have various customs and ways of naming children. In some European countries, they are named
after their grandparents (i.e. Judy and I named our son, Leo Joseph after my
father). In this country, parents often
name their children after themselves or even after movie stars. We Catholics often choose the name of a
saint. In ancient times, the newborn’s
name often reflected the hopes that the parents had for their child. This was how Jesus got his name.
The angel tells Joseph
that Mary “…will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus” (Mt 1:21), meaning “Yahweh saves,” because he is destined to save his
people. To some Jews of his time, this
meant being saved from the Roman army that occupied their country. But Jesus was not to be a messiah who would
win a military victory over their enemies; he was to save them—and us—from our
sins.
What does that
mean? Well, think for a moment what the
words saving and safety bring to people’s minds
today. We keep our nation safe by
maintaining a well-trained military with a variety of weapons as insurance
against enemy attacks. We have a
Department of Homeland Security taking elaborate precautions to protect us from
foreign and domestic threats. All these
measures are designed to save us from enemies outside who want to harm
us. But not all our enemies are outside
us. Some are within, and they are what
we call sins. It is from these that Jesus
comes to save us.
What are sins,
anyway? They’re not just the breaking of
rules. They are the acting out of our
worst instincts: greed, anger, lust, selfishness, cruelty, envy. We all know that we have these enemies within
us; when we let them out, they do harm to others and to ourselves. They keep us from reaching out to those who
love us or need us. Sometimes they take
the form of apathy or self-absorption that doesn’t make us do wrong but
prevents us from doing good. Then there
are the sins of weakness that lead to aimlessness, irresponsibility, and
addiction.
What are the enemies
within us, and how can we deal with them?
I believe the following story explain the strategy the best.
A Cherokee Indian tells
his grandson, “There is a fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight between two
wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, self-pity,
guilt, resentment, false pride and ego.
The other wolf is good. He is
joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, benevolence, compassion, and
faith. This same fight is going on
inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought
about it for a minute and then asked the old man, “Which wolf will win?”
The old man simply
replied, “Whichever one you feed.”
In a few days we are
going to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let Christmas and our Eucharistic feast feed
us with Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace. They
are both joyful feast for many reasons. So
as we enjoy family reunions, the exchanging of gifts, and countless acts of
generosity to those in need, recognize why Christmas brings out the best in
people. It’s because this is exactly why
Jesus came—to bring out the best in all of us.[2]
