Christmas Musings

The Midnight Mass I went to was awe inspiring. The scaffolding is all gone and almost all of the restoration, except the floors, is complete. This was true restoration where not only was the beauty of the church retained, but it was accentuated and made even more beautiful. From the half-hour of caroling before the Mass through the end of Mass, all of the music was well selected and performed. There was nothing discordant between the music and the Mass as the highest prayer on earth. The choir along with the pipe organ and a six piece orchestra performed well together. Our Pastor, as always, delivered an excellent homily and chanted the Mass.

The best present I received this year was the one wrapped in swaddling cloths. It is always the right size, color, and made to fit for all. This was God's eternal gift card that was validated at the Crucifixion. Like regular gift cards this one also has a time limit and can only be redeemed at one place. It is redeemed only through the merits of Christ and our cooperation in using it. It must also be used prior to death. Unlike secular gift cards the balance is always infinite and their is nothing we can do to increase or decrease that balance. But again like a normal gift card we must use it. If we leave it in a corner untouched, even it's infinite value is of no gain towards us.

Another joy during Christmastide is the carols. I like my Christmas music to be for the most part traditional and actually about Christ. I prefer them sung so that I might sing along. Over the past five years I have been downloading carols from free music sites and adding to that music collection from CDs converted to MP3 and WMAs. So now I can listen to hours and hours of carols commercial free and without a blip against my tastes. With a digital music player I also now bring my carol collection with me to hear while driving. Christmas music soon dries off after Christmas and now I can still listen up to the Epiphany.