Hospital reflections see a different kind of Christmas

By Mary Regina Morrell
Catholic Online

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more." Dr. Seuss

It's a week before Christmas and the only wreath on our door is the one hung by the staff at the entrance of my husband's hospital room.

I am reminded that it is the Christmas season because there are two nicely decorated trees at the top of the escalator and baskets of poinsettias brightening the reception desk.

The only Christmas shopping I've been able to do has been in the hospital gift shop, which, I've discovered, has an exceptional variety of unique items, with the added benefit of wrapping!

In addition, I've realized that the hospital café may well be the only eatery in the nation that is playing light jazz instead of the now meaningless sets of holiday carols and jingles that have spewed from radios since before Thanksgiving. It has been a relief, providing me a cocoon of comfort to read, write and reflect.

This year, rather than the annual trip to pick out a tree on the coldest night of the season, I'm considering asking the local retail store if I can buy one of their artificials off the floor fully decorated. It seems we are going to be here for awhile.

My lawn is missing the manger I love so much and there are no twinkling lights framing our home like an oversized gingerbread house.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, thanks to my sons, but may well remain empty. Never-the-less, when I come home late each night, after long hours keeping my husband company, to see them decorating the fireplace mantle I still smile, undisturbed by the possibility that they will hang weightless on Christmas morning.

Today my holiday exhaustion has not come from the interminable rushing from store to store amidst crowds of people and stop-dead traffic but from the endless waiting for doctors, tests and diagnoses. Still, here in the hospital womb, in spite of the worry and expected frustrations, I have found an unexpected comfort in being isolated from the commercial Christmas.

You see, waiting in the hospital during this last week of Advent has forced upon me the prospect of a new kind of Christmas, one without an overabundance of tinsel and gifts, one that encourages a focus on all that is really important, one that has brought a real sense of peace to my heart.

Moving through the moments of hospital time I have found it meaningful to ask, "What is the real gift of Christmas?"

Each day's walk through the maternity ward, pediatrics and ultimately to the wing where death is a frequent visitor, I have found the answer in every room, every bed, every call to a nurse, every response, every act of caring.

The gift of Christmas is Life -- Life that changes everything; Life that calls us to love, respect, compassion, service; Life that gives meaning even to death.

Christmas is the Gospel, living, breathing, heart-driven and life-changing, requiring a surrender and trust in God belonging more to children than the rest of us. Perhaps that is the real reason Christmas belongs to children; the reason our beloved American humorist, Erma Bombeck once wrote, "There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child."

When I look back at this Christmas and all that preceded it, I will no doubt find that the blessings were wrought in Advent waiting along side the bed of a loved one and in the waiting came the rediscovery of a child's heart - full of wonder at the gift of life and the transforming power of love.

And while there may be no Christmas cards from my family this year, my Christmas wish for friends and family would be that they remember the words of Christian author Frederick Buechner: "The birth of Jesus made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it."

Contact

Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562-1990

Email

mmorrell@diometuchen.org

Keywords

hospital, Christmas, waiting, life, Advent

More Catholic PRWire

Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716

• « Prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• Next »

A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain

Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.

The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul

A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.

Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell

My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz

Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell

Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online

Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online

Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online

State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online

Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online

2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online

Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online

Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online

Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online

Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online

Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online

Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online

Full Circle
Robert Gieb

Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite

Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony

Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell

World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online

Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA

Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online

A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe

Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly

Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard

The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely

Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow

A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow

Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea

Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard

Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol

Edging God Out
Paul Sposite

Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow

George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online

Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell

Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey

Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite

Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol

Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol

Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online

Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online

Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online

Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online

Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online

Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online

Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol

• « Prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• Next »