Celebrating God's Sanctifying Grace

God uses all kinds of means to let us know that He's omnipresent.  Whenever we see someone helped or something happen just in the nick of time, that's His work.  I believe that's what we're celebrating on religious holidays.  Yesterday, was Christmas day.  I saw God bring my husband back to me.  I saw God helping neighbors shovel snow from the morning's snow.  I saw God give presents to express human love.

I believe these and more are evidence of God's grace working in human lives.  My feelings were confirmed when I read Brother Hyacinth Grubb, O.P. article in Dominicana.  His topic was the Puritans banning the celebration of Christmas.  The Puritans were correct in recognizing Christmas as an important holy day.  But they did not see the working of God's sacramental grace in the birth of Jesus.  Maybe they did but did not believe in celebrating it.  I guess; how could you not rejoice that your Savior was born?  Anyway, the Puritans banned celebrating Christmas.

 In the words of one preacher: “the feast of Christ’s nativity is spent in reveling, dicing, carding, masking, and in all licentious liberty. . .by mad mirth, by long eating, by hard drinking, by lewd gaming, by rude reveling!” 

Thank God I'm Catholic.