DECK THE HALLS WITH BOUGHS OF HOLLY

A SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE CIRCUMCISION

I spent most of my life having nothing but disdain for a couple of specific Christmas carols.  I’ve been giving them some thought of late, though, and have come to the conclusion that they aren’t quite so frivolous as I’d thought.  Both of these carols have to do with Christmas decorations, specifically holly.

The first is probably, on the surface, the sillier of the two.  “Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-lah, la-la-la-lah.”  It invokes the picture of brain-dead scullery maids bustling through the manor house, threading strands of holly all over the place while they grin at each other and “troll the yuletide carol.”  One has the idea they can’t even remember the words of the carol, simply substituting plenty of fa-la-lahs for the ones they forget.  Beyond the crude reminder that “Tis the season to be jolly,” it’s hard to find any spiritual value in this trivial little carol.  And yet…

Let’s ask ourselves the question, “Why are they decking the halls with holly of all things?  Why not with paper trimmings, or colored lights?”  You see, it’s really all about the holly.  There’s an association between holly and Christmas that goes far beyond the mere fact that the holly maintains its bright colors during the Christmas season when most of nature is at its dreariest.  Christians have long identified a wealth of symbolism in this plant, and the second of our Christmas carols today, “The Holly and the Ivy” lays out these symbols verse by verse.  “The holly bears a prickle, as sharp as any thorn”—the sharpness of the leaves thus recall the crown of thorns.  In fact, in certain parts the holly is known as Christ’s Thorn.  “The holly bears a bark as bitter as any gall”—we are reminded of the gall and vinegar they gave our Lord to drink on the Cross.    Even the holly leaves themselves resemble flames, and are said to represent God’s burning love for his people. 

But of course it is the redness of the berries that is the most striking and significant thing about this Christmas plant.  “The holly bears a berry as red as any blood.”  These berries remind us, of course, of the drops of blood that were shed for our salvation.  And our first reaction to that reminder on this Octave Day of Christmas might be that it’s out of place.  After all, Christmas is a time of great peace and joy to all men of good will, and we really don’t want to be thinking about bloodshed and the men of evil will who cause that blood to be shed.  We think this way because our thoughts are not God’s thoughts.  We seem to think we live in an eternal present, with no future consequences to fear, and no past crimes to repent.  God sees things in the light of eternity on the other hand.  He sees the sins we have committed, the ones we are possibly committing right now, and even the ones we will commit in the future, whether we intend to or not.  He sees the original sin committed by Adam and Eve, and passed on down to their descendants.  He sees the need for his only-begotten Son to become man and die for their sin, and for all our sins, past, present, and future.

And so, on that Holy Night when Christ was born, God the Father looked down from heaven with something other than the shallow joy we humans feel with our fleeting, superficial emotions so chained to the events of the passing hours.  God is already looking ahead to the shedding of blood of this little babe in the manger, and which no amount of rejoicing and adoration on our part will prevent from happening.  Watch the holly berries and see how they fade not.

The very next day after Christmas, December 26^th, we celebrated the stoning to death of the very first Martyr of the Church, St. Stephen.  No sooner is our Festival Day over than this first saint to die at the hand of God’s enemies is pelted with stones until he lies bleeding, dying and forgiving his murderers.  A couple of days later and we find King Herod sending out his troops to wipe out all the infant boys in the region of Bethlehem, hoping that one of them will be the newborn King told to him by the three wise men from the East.  The slaughter of the Holy Innocents, these little children who remind us so much of the holiest of all Innocents, the Christ Child, the spilling of blood in the streets of David’s royal city—how far removed from our cozy Christmas thoughts is this?  We can’t seem to escape the reminders coming from God that the kings of the earth will continue till the end of time to rise up against the Lord and his Anointed.  On Sunday, it was the turn of St. Thomas Becket.  Murder in the Cathedral, the Martyr’s blood literally bespattered everywhere, decking the halls of Canterbury Cathedral like boughs of holly.

And how does mankind react to all this?  “Fa-la-la-la-lah la-la-la-lah.  Tis the season to be jolly.”  How many people think beyond this to the reason why Christ came, to the terrible things that were being plotted against him even then by Herod, and soon by the Pharisees and High Priests of the Temple.  And we Catholics?  How many of us are even aware that the day after Christmas is St. Stephen’s Day, or how the other blood-filled feasts of the Christmas Octave follow on, the Holy Innocents and St. Thomas of Canterbury?  We seem to be so embroiled in the material spirit of the holiday that we spare not one thought of what is to befall that little Christ Child.  “O the rising of the sun, and the running of the deer…” Even our visits to church are just an exercise in nostalgia, “the playing of the merry organ, sweet singing in the choir.”  What will it take for us to really understand Christmas?

It will take no less than the spilling of the Most Precious Blood of Christ himself.  And so, on this, the Octave Day of Christmas, a knife was taken to this little tiny Child.  And according to Jewish law the Rite of Circumcision was performed on the Son of the Most High Almighty God.  For the first time, Christ’s Blood was spilled, the Blood of the New and Everlasting Covenant, the Mystery of Faith and our Redemption.  Little drops of blood, like holly berries, dripped on to the floor of the stable, and as we kneel again before the image of the Christ Child today, let us tremble a little at the terrible hatred the world has for this tiny infant.  These men can barely wait for the Crucifixion to spill his Blood again.  And we Catholics, as we so blithely and complacently continue our sinful ways, our mundane obsessions, our fa-la-lahs, what importance has this Christ Child for us?  “Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ for to redeem us all.”  So before we un-deck the halls with their boughs of holly, let’s wait a while, give time for all the events and anniversaries of this past week to sink into our mind.  Let’s ponder over the tremendous amount of blood that has been spilled thus far, and to which we must always be prepared to add our own if called upon.  And above all, let’s recall the most vital of all those drops of Blood, those of our divine Saviour, spilled upon this day.  “For of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown.”