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December 2007 Issue
'Tis the season to embrace a deeper
relationship with God
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One
of my favorite Christmas stories is the timeless classic
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Written quickly
to pay off a debt, the tale has become one of the most
popular and enduring Christmas stories of all time.
English authors of his day noted that Dickens' story
played a critical role in redefining the importance
of Christmas and the major sentiments associated with
the holiday. The famous work has been adapted to theatre,
opera, film, radio and television countless times. However,
no matter the format, it is still a splendid morality
tale of an old and bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who
undergoes a profound experience of redemption over the
course of one evening. |
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Scrooge,
through the visit of three ghosts, is encouraged to see beyond
the accumulation of material wealth in order to find the wealth
of friendship, love, and the Christmas season. Maybe
we are not as miserly as Scrooge, but each of us has room
to grow when it comes to acknowledging and celebrating our
wealth that is not of the material kind. Our families, friends,
faith, and relationship with God are all great gifts that
are meant to be cherished.
However, too often in the hustle and bustle
of everyday life, it is easy for us to forget how much we
value this type of wealth. If we, like Scrooge, are focused
primarily on those parts of our lives that have to do with
material wealth, the other aspects of our life, especially
our relationship with God, will suffer greatly. As with any
relationship, our relationship with God requires that we spend
time with him. God has a plan for our lives, but it is very
difficult to discover God's plan if we do not spend time in
prayer. What prevents us from spending quality time in prayer?
Is it our daily schedule, our job, our procrastination, or
our fear? In the end, Scrooge changes his life and reverts
to the generous, kindhearted soul he was in his youth, because
his evening visitors help him to understand that the future
he has been shown can be altered - but only if he changes.
We will most likely not be visited by three
ghosts to help us see beyond the aspects of our life that
keep us from developing a deeper relationship with God. However,
as we are visited by the themes of the Advent and Christmas
seasons, may we be encouraged to change those aspects of our
life that keep us from having the relationship with God we
truly desire - and that God desires for us.
Merry Christmas!
- Father Ron Hutchinson is director of priestly
vocations for the Diocese of Grand Rapids.
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