The Joy and Danger of Christmas

Church Life Today

The question at Christmas is not about whether God will act for us. The babe born of Mary is the answer: God has given everything. The question is really about us. Will we receive Christ?

This is a most magnificent reversal, and a most perilous one. He in whom all things are created––in whom we live and move and have our being––is given into our hands. The Host has become the guest, and we, who depend on God for all things, are called upon to become His host.

Christmas is not only a time of great consolation, but the beginning of the great decision. God is all in: do we accept Him? Everything depends on our answer.

In this special episode of our show, I will lead us through a series of reflections upon the mysteries of Christmas. These reflections were initially part of an article I wrote for Our Sunday Visitor, who is also, as you know, our podcasting partner here at Church Life Today. I don’t have a guest in studio with me today; instead, I hope that, together, we can welcome the Word of God as our guest, pondering the depth, beauty, and even the risk of God coming among us, in the flesh.

Follow-up Resources:

• “The Joy of Christmas (and the danger),” article at Our Sunday Visitor by Leonard DeLorenzo
• “What it means to wait for the Lord,” article at Our Sunday Visitor by Leonard DeLorenzo
• “How the O Antiphons direct our gaze toward the coming of our Savior,” article at Our Sunday Visitor by Leonard DeLorenzo
• “The Three Wisemen,” podcast episode at Church Life Journal
• Into the Heart of the Father: Learning from and Giving Yourself through Christ in Prayer (Word Among Us, 2021), by Leonard DeLorenzo
• Model of Faith: Reflecting on the Litany of Saint Joseph (Our Sunday Visitor, 2022), by Leonard DeLorenzo
• A God Who Questions (Our Sunday Visitor, 2019), by Leonard DeLorenzo

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.