Greetings, Sir Knights! Instead of my usual weekly message, I am sharing with you the homily I presented at the Christmas Observance service for Maryland Commandery 1 and Monumental Crusade Commandery 3, Cockeysville (Baltimore County), Maryland. The text is Luke 2.
In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Charles M. Schultz, the late creator of the comic strip, “Peanuts,” created the famous “A Charlie Brown Christmas” special to air in 1965. Schultz really wasn’t keen on the idea, but said that he would, provided that he could tell the Christmas story—the nativity of our Lord Jesus—as part of the special. As you can imagine, even in the 60s the network leaders weren’t especially keen on the idea, but they reluctantly agreed, because they wanted the special. Now, some 60 years later, it is one of the staples of the Christmas season, even if it has been relegated to AppleTV as an on-demand option.
We all can tell the story from heart—Charlie Brown, as only Charlie Brown can, gets caught up in the Christmas season without a real understanding of what it is and why it’s important. Lucy just wants presents. Snoopy goes overboard and wins the Christmas lights show. No one wants to listen to Charlie as he tries to direct the Christmas pageant. Of course, the big “drama” of the show centers on Charlie Brown’s choice of trees for the pageant, for which he earned nothing but scorn and laughter at first. It was clearly Charlie Brown being Charlie Brown.
However, there was a very subtle message included in the show that you may not recall. Frankly, I missed it until I happened upon a clip of the show while preparing for today’s message. Charlie’s dear friend, Linus, for whom the security blanket was and forever will be the badge of honor, brings that message to us.
No, it is not the Christmas story from Luke 2. That message is far from subtle, as it comes at a show-stopping point. But, the message of which I speak does appear during the recitation by Linus.
Linus is speaking of the appearance of the angel to the shepherds. As he recites the 10th verse, “And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not,…’” Linus abruptly drops his security blanket.
Fear not, the angel tells the shepherds. And on those words, Linus drops his security blanket and presses on. This is the same Linus that panicked when his blanket was missing or taken from him by his big sister, Lucy, and fretted nervously when it was just in the laundry.
But when he hears the words, Fear not, it is as if they were spoken not to the shepherds, but to him. Linus recites the words of the Gospel and in hearing he comes to believe—if just for the moment—there is nothing to fear, for the Son of God was truly Emanuel, God with us, in the Incarnation. Linus lets the blanket lie there on the floor while he continues to share the Gospel message, finally picking up his blanket and clutching it tightly. Linus knew the words of the angel, and he knew what the shepherds were told. For a moment, he even believed it. Then, he picked up his blanket and kept that symbol of his safety and security close at hand.
Now, Linus will drop it one more time in the show when he wraps it around the poor little tree and says that the tree might just “need a little love.” He knew there was that touch of love in his blanket—that little bit of security—which he could share with that little tree. The spirit that gave Linus comfort in that blanket was there to support that weak little tree, too.
We should find comfort in the words of the angel as well. It’s tough to do that right now, with all the turmoil and war and terror in the world around us—especially in the Holy Land, but we need to hear the Word of God, and in hearing, move forward in faith in confidence, not fear, because not only has God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for us and be raised from the dead so that we might be saved, but God has promised us that His Son shall return to us in due time, and until Christ does return, God has not forsaken us, but truly is still with us today as the Holy Spirit moves among us, that Advocate whom God has promised and is dwelling among us at this very moment.
Fear not, my dear sisters and brothers in Christ, for God is with us and His peace resides among us and upon us. May you, like Linus, find freedom from fear in the presence of the Christ Child this holy season. Amen.