Thank you to my big sister, Marie, for bending over backwards so I could attend the Christmas Eve Cathedral of the Madeleine service. It is magical and moving, and that comes from the mouth of a confirmed Scrooge.
“Our God became small for us,” the priest spoke at the beginning of the service. That is the magic of Christianity: Emmanuel, “God with us”.
I love that part, too, and it really conveys in a striking way what love looks like–giving yourself away piece by piece, to enlarge others. I am also struck every year at how the homily pulls out the parts of the Nativity story that parallel the birth of a child of an illegal immigrant: poor, outsider, not welcomed by the larger community. The SL Catholic Church has vocally championed the cause of local illegal immigrants for years now. I’m so glad you were able to find a way to go and that I got to hang out with Ben!