Perhaps the two most beloved Christmas stories that we see every year on television are Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life. The former involves a man from Hell, Jacob Marley, who shows Ebenezer Scrooge the ruinous future he is preparing for himself and for others. The latter involves an angel from heaven, Clarence Odbody, who shows George Bailey what a wonderful life he has had. In both stories, the order of time is changed so that the trajectory of the two lives can be seen from the perspective of eternity. Also central to the stories are the families of Bob Cratchit and George Bailey. Each person can have a profound effect on others, especially on intimates, according to how he views the significance of his life.
Christmas is about eternity since it represents the eternal God coming into a world of time. It is the conjunction between the timeless and the temporal. It offers us, therefore, an occasion to reflect on our lives and consider where we are going. It beckons us to see our lives in a larger perspective and to think about the relationship between our birth and our destiny. Christ’s birth is inseparable from his destiny. The light He brings into the world is one that illuminates all of human history.
This larger perspective, achieved at Christmas time in both of these timeless stories, is needed for the conversions of the two central characters. Given a frame of reference that transcends the moment, they come to realize the essential importance of love and generosity. They come to understand that life is a blessing, one that must be shared with others. Both the Bailey and the Cratchit families are the immediate beneficiaries of this insight. They are the beneficiaries of what the Holy Family represents.
Christmas, as we know only too well, is a time of gift-giving. This popular practice, however, has been roundly criticized for commercializing a holy occasion. But gifts can transcend commercialization when they are given in the right spirit. They should be gentle reminders that the greatest of all gifts is the gift of life, one that was threatened on the first Christmas by King Herod. The gift we give is finite and limited. They often fail to last a year. But what they should symbolize is far more. They should say, “This gift in itself is merely a token. On a deeper level it says that I am happy you are here and I want this gift to enhance your life, make you happy, and remind you that you are part of a loving family, a loving community.”
Gifts should elicit thanks. The reason Christmas presents are wrapped is so that the beneficiary can say, “Thank you” twice. The initial thank you may be more pure than the second because it is said without knowing exactly what the wrapped package contains. The sight of a myriad of presents at the foot of the Christmas tree is an image that fills us with expectation, the anticipation that packaged love will inspire grateful hearts.
The gifts of the Magi have spiritual significance that symbolizes the eternal. Gold honors his kingship, frankincense celebrates his deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) refers to His death. These gifts proclaim the eternal significance of Christmas because Christ’s kingship is everlasting, because He is God, and because He was destined to rise from the dead.
Christmas expands our hearts and minds as it unites us with an eternal plan. The two aforementioned stories stir our hearts because they offer us credible tales of how Christmas is not simply about having a good time, but of having a wonderful life.
Dr. Donald DeMarco is a Senior Fellow of Human Life International. Doctor DeMarco is a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and he is Professor Emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario and an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College & Seminary in Cromwell, CT.
He is the author of 22 books, including; Architects of the Culture of Death, The Many Faces of Virtue, The Heart of Virtue, and New Perspectives on Contraception. He has authored several hundred articles in scholarly journals and in anthologies, and articles and essays appearing in other journals and magazines and in newspapers; and innumerable book reviews in a variety of publications.
His education includes: B.S. Stonehill College, North Easton, MA 1959 (General Science); A.B. Stonehill College, 1961 (Philosophy); Gregorian University, Rome, Italy, 1961-2 (Theology); M.A. St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY, 1965 (Philosophy); and Ph.D. At. John’s Univ., 1969 (Philosophy). His Master’s dissertation was “The Basic Concept in Hegel’s Dialectical Method” and his Doctor’s dissertation was “The Nature of the Relationship between the Mathematical and the Beautiful in Music”.
He is married to Mary Arendt DeMarco and they have five children.
