Dressing For Chirstmas

Dressing for Christmas:

2008 Christmas Message from Bishop Leo Frade

(Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida)

What should I wear for Christmas?

That’s an easy question for a man to answer. There are just a few limited options that we have: Choose this or that suit, decide which color shirt and maybe grab a matching tie. If we really want to be impressive, we make sure to shine our shoes and put on our favorite–and only–cologne.

That’s not the case for women. Most women have been working on their choice for quite some time, definitely more than the seven minutes that a man uses to make his decision.

For most women it starts with what dress is the appropriate one–what length, what color, what style—and involves finding what shoes will go with the outfit and what jewelry will add the right touch. Then one more glance in the mirror–is this a good color or not?

Of course I’m sure that there are many more details that have not yet been revealed to me on how a woman decides what to wear.

The Gospel story doesn’t bother to tell us what Mary, Joseph or the adoring shepherds were wearing, but it does tell us exactly what Jesus wore. St. Luke tells us that after giving birth to her firstborn, Mary wrapped him in bands of cloth. That was Jesus’ first outfit, just simple bands of cloth.

I think that this is a very appropriate reminder that Christmas should be a very simple holiday. We have added so much hype to our celebration and turned it into such a commercial extravaganza that we worry about feeling underdressed if we don’t manage to wear a proper outfit to honor the birth of this baby–who wore simple bands of cloth.

We come to church dressed in our best, and that is fine. It is natural that we should want to look our best when we welcome our Lord, our Savior and King, but at the same time we need to remember that the true spirit of Christmas can be found only if we look for its simplicity. The warning I want us to heed is this: Do not mistake the wrapping of Christmas for the actual gift. Unless we can put aside the wrapping, we will not find the gift that God has given us—God’s own self in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If someone brings you a gift wrapped in the most exquisite and colorful wrapping, you don’t toss the gift aside and put the paper and ribbons in a place of honor as if these were the actual gift. You may be delighted with the beauty of the gift paper wrapping, but you know that it is not the gift.

All the hype, and even all the stories of Christmas, with the shepherds in their field by night and later on the visit of the Magi, even the celestial choir, are just signs that point to the real gift.

And that gift is from God, the gift of his presence in our midst that allows us to look more joyfully at life, a life with hopeful possibilities, where people can be different, where peace may reign, a life full of love, optimism and open-hearted generosity.

You see, I sincerely believe that the proper outfit for Christmas Day is pajamas and bathrobes. We may begin by wearing our best outfits to parties and receptions and then at last to Midnight Mass, where we hear the familiar and awesome Gospel story and sing all the familiar hymns that we love. But the reality is that all of our dressing-up leads us to the simplicity of a morning on which we greet baby Jesus with the joy of children.