Hark the Herald Angels Sing

So I was driving this morning, surfing channels on the radio, and happened upon this Christian radio show (for those of you who know Connecticut, you'll understand how rare this is). The jockey was reading the Nativity story from Luke (Lk 2:1-22), and as I listened, I started thinking about the angels appearing to the shepherds. They didn't show up with doctrine or statutes, but with tidings of great joy, and the shepherds were, no doubt, changed by the encounter. And as I thought, I realized that each time Mary or an angel appears to someone, whether in scripture or in our own time, the apparition is one of a relationship, an encounter with the sacred, not a legalistic meeting. When people's hearts are changed, obedience to the rules will follow, but its much less often that it happens the other way around. Certainly, understanding the Catholic Church rationally helps Catholics live out their faith lives, but its the relationship with Christ that makes Christianity come alive. Sometimes we forget that Christianity, Catholicism, is about a Man, a person, THE person.

So hark, the herald angels are singing, what's our response? Do we travel a little out of the way to meet a Savior, embark on a new relationship and get to know this King in our midst? As for me, I'm trying to, its one of the reasons I came to Covecrest. Its not always easy, but so far, there is nothing I've experienced that's better.