HOLY MOMENTS

I recently read a short book by Matthew Kelly that was gifted to me by our parish priest entitled, Holy Moments: A Handbook for the Rest of Your Life. Kelly describes a holy moment as “a single moment in which you open yourself to God. You make yourself available to Him. You set aside personal preferences and self-interest, and for one moment you do what you prayerfully believe God is calling you to do.” In my work at Franciscan Action Network, this resonated with me, for at the end of his life, St. Francis said he had done what was his to do and counseled his followers to find out what God was calling them to do.

In today’s society, we seem more disconnected than ever. Gone are the days where the family gathered each night for a meal and prioritized going to Mass or services together each week. Our children are overscheduled and thus families end up rushing through this day just to get to the next one, making it difficult to find Holy Moments in everyday life. The more disconnected from God our life becomes the more meaningless life becomes, resulting in bitter discontentment. Perhaps this Advent season we can learn to slow down and find ways to connect, with each other and with God, and create some Holy Moments.

The year 2023 marks the 800th anniversary of the time when Francis of Assisi wanted to celebrate Christmas in a new way and thus began the tradition of the Christmas crèche.

For Francis, Christmas was a much loved feast because it revealed the profound humility of God in choosing to become a little baby, helpless and in need, just as we were as babies. Francis and the early brothers would meditate often, taking some scene from the Bible, like the birth of Jesus, and imagine it prayerfully and as visually as possible. They would place themselves in the biblical scene and try to feel what the character was feeling. This practice helped to make Christ present to them in their own place and time. Then, flooded with emotion, they would then be moved to act, praising and loving God and wanting to spread that love out to the world.

In 1223, Francis brought this practice of meditation to the people of Greccio, Italy. This small town was the first to host a live Christmas crèche at midnight Mass, complete with a real ox, donkey and townspeople gathered around. Author Matthew Kelly would call this a Holy Moment. Francis instituted this practice in hopes that the people would see themselves in the Christmas story, as if happening to them, then and there. To this day, the crèche is meant to show us how close and humble God is to us, and how like a child is God who loves us unconditionally. In his 2019 Apostolic Letter Admirabile signum, Pope Francis reflects on Greccio while considering the meaning and importance of the nativity scene. He says, "It does not matter how the nativity scene is arranged: it can always be the same or it can change from year to year. What matters is that it speaks to our lives. Wherever it is, and whatever form it takes, the Christmas crèche speaks to us of the love of God, the God who became a child in order to make us know how close he is to every man, woman and child, regardless of their condition.”

During this Advent season, let us vow to collaborate with God in finding Holy Moments through the setting up of our own crèches. Slow down and, as you place each figurine, take time to ponder what may have been going through the minds of each of those present for Christ's birth.

Let’s open ourselves to God and allow the crèche to show us how precious is our humanity, a humanity that through grace is the very image of God. If we each do our part to recognize and share Holy Moments, we have the power to transform the world.

Janine Walsh
Communications Coordinator
Franciscan Action Network