The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1958-11-28

Some We
Read About

And so we enter Advent, and 60 again on the
road to Bethlehem. There are any number of people
to whom this means nothing, to whom Jesus Christ
means nothing; to whom life, therefore, means
nothing.
Some we read about in the newspapers. Some
We see as they drift airnlessly past, or scurry along
in pursuit of values which turn out to be spurious.
Some we know; some are aequalntanceS, some even
are beloved friends whose hands we hold across a
gulf, to whom we speak but are not understood.
Here is one-or here was one, He piled money
He had sycophants to truckle to him, hangers-on to
flatter him. Reporters sought interviews; worldly
honors were heaped up. And he took a gun and killed
himself.
Herr IS ANOTHER. She has the beauty of face
and body that lies about the empty, self-seeking soul
of her. She labors at gaity, she clutches at pleasure,
and she is unhappy. She does not know why. But
her fitting from man to man betrays her. She wants
love, but for love there must be more than flesh.
Here is still another. He is immensely talented;
he is brilliant; his mind flashes like tightening. But
not realize that his sickness is the disease of mean
ingleSSnesS. He is addicted to attention; he wants all
and gives nothing. And he is miserable.
Still another-this one a social leader, with a
rich husband, a magnificent home, Well-bred children
and days filled with Things to Do. The trouble is that
the things to do are not worth doing-because she
does not do them for God. They leave her, not UNI
happy. but simply not happy, because they give her
no hold on permanence. Her treasures have a way
of vanishing.
A~NoTHER-A cLoD Not that he was born to
De a clOQ, not that ne is QeV0lQ OF ability. But n0Ln1ng
really interests him.; his life is a passing of time away
until he dies. No trumpets summon him to loyalty and
achievement. He sees the pointlessness of what the
world offers; but he will hear no other offer. He
does not seek; he does not knock. He exists.
> One more-and this is perhaps the most numer-
Gus. He declines to trouble himself. He knows he
ought to go upward and forward, but maybe his
business might sufferer his social acceptance. Or
there is a sin he cherishes. He does not know that
the bonds holding him are threads that can be broken
with one strong effort. Anyhow, he does not like
effort. He likes being pillowed.
| think, too, there are those who attribute to
God their own lack OF generosity. God, we might say,
is a scandal to them. And certainly it is true that if
God were not God, the good news of Bethlehem
would be too much for credeDce. But 1t is not beyond
the goodness of the All-Good to make Himself one
OF us, to walk and talk with us, to be crucified for us.
he DID DO SO. Because His goodness and love
and mercy are unbounded, He came all the way to
us short of cancelling our free will. That, He would
not do because without freedom there can be no
merit, no manliness, no love. We face this fearsome
truth-We can decline TO receive Christ; we can
close our minds and hearts, and wall ourselves away
from Joy.
What is agonizing about all this is that the things
which keep us from Christ have no substance. They
are mere bogies. The experience of countless millions
will testify that Christ was stating the simple facts
when He said, my yoke is sweet, My burden light"
| do not mean that He will not let coming to
Him cost something. He will let it cost what It is
best for us that it should cost; He desires to lift us
as high as we will 60. But into the heart that turns
to Him., He pours graces to hold it sure and firm;
and with each step taken with Him., Joy increases.
The mirth of Christians, and the sadness of pagans,
are observable facts. Bethlehem is the house of
laughter as well as the house of eternal bread.
Unless Christmas is spiritual as well as material,
Its soul is lost, and with the soul, the rejoicing. In
some sense we must hear the angels singing before
there is any real point in going to the Crib.