I f you were wondering what the significance of the last post was, well let me explain.
Firstly, here in Austria, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th December, Christmas Eve. This is how we did it at home in Australia too. My Czech parents, as well as most of the Europeans who lived in our little enclave in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, all celebrated Christmas with a Christmas mass on Christmas Eve. In fact, “our church” had the family mass at eight in the evening, to allow for the many small children in the community at the time it was instigated, to also attend, without screaming the priest out of earshot, due to exhaustion. In those days, the church was full of families, and we were right there in the second row up front, on the right hand side.
Now here in Austria, we also celebrate on Christmas Eve.
After dinner, we moved to the living room where the candles on the tree were lit and we sang some more Christmas carols. Then we talked about the meaning of Christmas, the tradition and the significance today to us as a family.
So many people around the world celebrate Christmas. For Christians, it is the celebration of the birth of Christ and the birth of Christianity. Yet, what is the significance of that today? I spoke about our understanding of Christ and the incredible age we are living in today. I spoke about the second coming of Christ, just like the first, unrecognized by his peers, but glorified by posterity. I spoke of the incredible blessing we have received to have been born into this new age, to have met the messiah and received the blessing of becoming a blessed family. And then, before I lost all their interest in my preachy speech, the door bell rang!
Son#5 went to the door. “Es ist das Christkind!” said Son#4, in obedient Austrian tradition. Son#3 went out and came back with the big box, lugging it in together with Son#5.
So to get back to my story:
Secondly, the merit of the age. After about five years without a television in our family, we finally have a large screen TV sitting in our living room.