“We're accidents floating on a rock in the emptiness of space. Billions of years preceded humanity, and after our inevitable extinction, there will be billions more years of silent emptiness. Human existence is a blip that means nothing in the vast history of the universe.”

Such was the comment offered by a self-proclaimed atheist on a popular online forum. Such nihilism is common to modern thought, though usually not to such an extreme. For example, we see the perennial battle for separation of church and state devolving into the promotion of legal requirements which offend the sensibilities of religious people and institutions.

As Christians, we are called to offer a counter-witness to the nihilist tendencies of society, a witness which can offer hope to even the hardest and most despairing hearts. And there is no better opportunity than Christmas to consider this witness of joy.

Interestingly, even many of those who have rejected Christianity continue to celebrate Christmas. Consider this curious situation: according to a recent Pew Research survey, in 2012, 73% of the U.S. identified as being Christian. Of the remaining 27% non-Christians, 81% reported celebrating Christmas. It's an odd fact, considering that Christmas is about Christ's self-revelation to the world. It seems illogical to celebrate a solemn high feast of a faith in which one does not believe.

Surely there are many reasons: fond memories from childhood, the appeal of a general expression of good-will, a fondness for gift-giving and receiving, even nostalgia for a religion which one may not be able to reconcile with the harsh realities of life. Whatever the reason, we have Christmas in common with most of our fellow men, and it is a perfect occasion to give witness to the deep joy of our Faith.

Christ is the reason we have true joy at Christmas. All of creation awaits His coming again as its King. (Salvator Mundi, Andrea Previtali)

For many, the joy of Christmas is only fleeting happiness, found in the gifts or company of family and friends. But for Christians, the joy of Christmas is not merely passing happiness. We have true joy in the hope of Christ's promise that He will come to us and take us to be with Him.

Our Faith convinces us of this reality through the Sacraments, which give us a foretaste of Heaven. And the experience of this foretaste can convert the hardness of desparing hearts.

All Christians are called to give the witness of the real joy of Christmas; but a small percentage are called to focus on this reality with such intensity that their “life's work” is proclaiming the good news of Jesus' Advent: that He has come, and wants to come again to each one of us.

Those who are called to the priesthood “stand in the gap” between despair and love. Their very lives are symbols that the universe is not meaningless, but that there is a greater reality than what we can see through our telescopes. Through the sacraments, they imbue the created world with God's grace, and make Him present to us, again and again. The role of the priest is to impart to the world the joy of Christ's coming, the joy of Christmas.

Our society is becoming increasingly secular, yet it does not realize how much it still thirsts for that which our Faith gives us. The desire to celebrate Christmas without Christ is almost a testimony to the desire for Christ! Is God calling you to go into this world and offer Christ to those who do not even know Whom they are thirsting for?