As we say goodbye to "The Holidays"

I was just reading a quick Christmas post from Meegs and she had a line from a familiar carol.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
with peace on earth good will to men.”

And I was thinking how so many carols are overlooked as cultural attachments to a "holiday season." There are Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs and I dunno, maybe there are Kwanzaa songs. So we know them as the songs we hear playing at Macy's once the 4th of July products are put away. I think we see them as part of the commercialization of Christmas. I hear "Yay! no more Christmas carols!" this time of year, every year and sometimes it's from my own mouth. But I was just thinking about how I really love certain lines from some of those songs ... lines that contain some pretty serious theology. I'm talking deep stuff, the likes of which the Barenaked Ladies have never dreamed. Let me give some examples...starting with one of my favorite Christmas medleys by the Ladies themselves with guest appearance by Sarah McLachlan.

Glorious now behold Him arise
King, and God, and Sacrifice
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Worship Him, God most high

Sacrifice is not something we like to think about when discussing Baby Jesus. Nor is it something the Barenaked Ladies typically sing about. And yet, they do so without apology. Here's another favorite of mine. I'm using the original words not the new ones that people use because they don’t understand the original. I’ll explain later.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appeared and the soul felt it's worth

That’s the most profound thing I’ve ever heard in a song. And it's right in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church. I'll explain by saying first that the way the words have been changed – “the soul felt HIS worth” – destroys the meaning and depth completely. The CCC says: “Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to himself and makes his supreme calling clear” It is Christ who reveals to us, our own worth. And you’ve probably heard it a million times in the last month. But wait there’s more from that song:

Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Or this song:

Mild he lay his glory by
Born that men no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth

There’s some heavy meaning in some of those over-played songs. Maybe we should consider the catechesis that occurs subliminally during Christmas shopping before we bash the capitalistic system that has taken Christ out of XMas. Maybe he's not that far away.

Maybe I should have thought to post this a month ago. I'd hate for you to drag out your Andy Williams Christmas album when you just put it away.

May you all have a Happy New Year!