The Everlasting Light of Christmas, by Father Roger Landry

COMMENTARY: Our Savior’s Nativity sharpens the focus of Bethlehem’s ‘visio divina.’

By Father Roger Landry, National Catholic Register, December 24, 2020

Father Roger Landry Father Roger J. Landry, a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, is national chaplain for Catholic Voices USA.

Many have called the Holy Land the “fifth Gospel” because there you can experience all of the principal events of the liturgical year in a little over a week. There are special Masses to be celebrated at each of the holy sites that take precedence over whatever else is in the liturgical calendar.

In the empty tomb, you celebrate Easter Sunday every day of the year; on Calvary, the Triumph of the Cross; in Nazareth, the Annunciation; on Mount Tabor, the Transfiguration; and in Bethlehem, Christmas.

It’s unforgettable to celebrate Christmas in May, June and September and Easter in December, January and February. It’s more memorable to enter into those mysteries of faith on consecutive days. Most indelible of all is to mark those events in the sacred spots where they occurred.  …