By Virginia Vollmer, OFS
As you are reading this article, we are in the midst of the holiday season: Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas. These three seasons flow from one to another without interruption. Sometimes we need to stop and remind ourselves not only to breath, but to remember. To remember to enjoy the season with children, with the wise and elderly, and with those who are sick, suffering or struggling. These should be our three hopes for the holiday season.
Hope for Youth. For the children and the young-at-heart the days before Christmas can seem to take forever. The arrival of Santa and far-flung family seem to be so far away when it’s only the day after Thanksgiving. I remember Advent Calendars being one way to temper this anticipation. Each of us kids would take turns opening that day’s door, hoping that the countdown until the day Santa would arrive would go faster. When we were young, we hoped for Santa and that he would bring the one thing we really truly absolutely positively had to have. We hoped that we were behaving good enough. As we got older and learned more about the season of Advent and the meaning of Christmas, we hoped for the birth of the baby Jesus. But we still hoped to receive the one thing of our deep desire, even when our parents said that the love and joy of the season is all that mattered. It really isn’t hard to have the exuberance of a child.
Hope for Elderly. In the midst of the holiday season our families seem to be busy, busy, busy. Advent seems to fly by (for the adults and elders) with all that is to be done: baking, shopping, cooking, decorating, parties to attend, choir rehearsals, cards to be sent, gifts to exchange. Oh my! When I was growing up, our family baked all kinds of cookies and breads at Christmas and we would share some of these with an elderly couple who didn’t have children. What was their hope for Christmas, I wonder? Did they hope to be remembered, not forgotten? What was their true desire? Did they hope they made a difference; that their lives were good enough? I still remember this couple decades after their passing. They lived simple lives, sharing and giving as they could, and volunteering and working for the parish.
Hope for the Sick. There were a few times when I’ve been too sick to enjoy the holidays. The bronchitis germs that were passed around school seemed to love me best and would come to stay for a while. I have little memories of those particular holidays, but I was taken care of. Not too long ago we had to deal with the COVID virus and the issues it created: whether or not to get vaccinated, whether or not to wear masks, whether to socially distance or rub shoulders with others. But we did what we could to be with one another. Many of us know of someone who may be struggling or suffering with an illness or injury. Maybe someone you know is recovering from or anticipating surgery. What could they be hoping for during this Advent and Christmas? We can each be a “Santa” (secret or otherwise) for someone who is sick or struggling.
I doubt that Pope Francis knew, when he called on 2025 to be the Year of Hope, how much the world would need this emphasis. How much in each of our own lives throughout the year we would need to be reminded to keep hoping. Yet, it was Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection that brought hope permanently into the world. Cling to hope all of you who are young. Cling to hope all you who are elderly. Cling to hope all you who are sick or struggling. For in the words of Julian of Norwich, “All will be well. All will be well. And all manner of things will be well.”
