My grandfather, Michael Creegan, was born in 1860. His son, Michael Creegan,
was born in 1890. His grandson, Michael Creegan, was born in 1930, and his
great-grandson, Michael Creegan, was born in 1960. In the second generation
there are six grandsons, who bear his name including myself. Many people today
are greatly interested in genealogy. Wonderful systems of communication and
transportation have increased that interest. But back in times when speed
limits were the poking pace of high level camels or lower level donkeys, people
were also interested in who or what came before them.
In the Mass of the Vigil of Christmas, after we finish the celebration of
Coming Forward (Advent), the book of Genesis goes backward over time from
Jesus born in a place called Bethlehem to Abraham born in a place we now call
Iraq. Forty-two generations. We want to celebrate the history of old times
so that we can better celebrate what is the reality of new times.
God came into the world, not as an embedded correspondent covering the story
but entered the stream of human experience on this planet. God’s entry
is the story.
In a wonderful passage in the great novel, Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak
writes: “One must be true to Christ….people do not live in a state
of nature but in history, and history as we know it now, began with Christ,
and Christ’s Gospel is its foundation. Now what is history? It is the
centuries of systematic explorations of the riddle of death. That’s
why people discover mathematical infinity and electomagnetic waves, this is
why they write symphonies. Now you can’t advance in this direction without
a certain faith. You can’t make such discoveries without spiritual equipment
and the basic elements of this equipment are in the gospels. What are they?
To begin with, love of one’s neighbor, which is the supreme form of
vital energy...once it fills the heart, it has to overflow and spend itself.
There was no history in this sense among the ancients. They had the boastful
dead eternity of bronze monuments and marble columns. It was not until after
the coming of Christ, that time and man could breathe freely. It was not until
after Christ that people began to live toward the future. Man does not die
in a ditch like a dog - but at home in history, while the work toward the
conquest of death is in full swing; he dies sharing in this work.”
In truth, Christ, the new Adam, is the beginning of Time with acapital T.
Good Time. Now the stream can flow with pure purpose. A divine drop has come
to purify the stream to the sea and back to its source as well.
Christmas is the beginning of all true celebration because its purpose is
salvation. It is genuine joy. So, people rejoice and try to brighten up not
only their faces but the drabness of streets with lots of lights. Christmas
is celebration no matter what. Cradles or coffins! Life goes on. Time is blessed.
Three years ago, the great, great, great, great grandchild of my grandfather,
Michael Creegan, was born in Texas. Her name is Raeleigh Kessen. She was born
on Christmas Day. All is well! Happy Christmas!
