Are You All In?

Christmas Is the Call to Go All In

This Christmas reflection moves from a funny memory and a Nativity scene check-in to a deeper challenge. What does it look like to be “all in” with God, and what keeps us from it?

Key Takeaways

• The Christmas story stays the same, but we change each year, so something new can hit our hearts.

• In the Nativity story, everyone who matters is “all in,” from Mary and Joseph to the shepherds and kings.

• Fear can keep us halfway in, while love calls us to trust and commit.

• The only thing worth fearing is choosing life “my way” instead of God’s way.

• Being “all in” shows up as love and mercy, even when it costs something.

A Christmas Eve memory, and staying awake

My dear brothers and sisters, merry Christmas to everyone. Just staying awake is an accomplishment.

I remember as a child, we would always go to Christmas Eve Mass in Rochester, New York, and it was freezing. Imagine being with all your cousins, your whole family, all together in this really warm home. Then all of a sudden at 11:00 or 11:15, you have to get out of your house, go into the freezing cold, and get to church.

The only memory I have is sitting in the back, and the organist was playing something triumphant, like the introduction. Then all of a sudden, ta-da. And I went, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, because I was almost asleep. My dad looked at me like, what are you doing?

What do you see in the Nativity scene?

What do you see in the Nativity scene?

At the 4:00 children’s Mass, I asked a couple of the pageant actors, “What are you?” The kid was dressed up like an animal. He said, “I am a rabbit.”

I was like, a rabbit? There are no rabbits. In fact, he was dressed like a donkey. 

Then I asked another kid, “What are you?” “A dog.” I’m not kidding. This is real. This is true. We recorded it.

So when I ask you, “What do you see here,” let’s make sure we all see the same thing.

We see kings. We see shepherds. Are there shepherds? Oh yeah, there’s a shepherd. We see animals. We see Mary. We see Joseph. We see the baby Jesus. Imagine all the stars, the moon.

You know this story by heart. But every year, there has to be something new that penetrates your heart. It is the same story every year, but you are not the same person every year. Things are always changing in your life.

The Thing That Stands Out This Year

For me this year, you know what I see? I see everyone going all in.

God becoming a baby, you’re all in. You’re 100%.

Mary hears the angel, “You will conceive and bear a child.” She’s all in. “Let it be done to me according to your word.”

Joseph gets a dream. Got it. He’s all in.

It may sound simple, but imagine you’re at the 11:00 Mass. Some of you might be thinking, I’m here because my parents forced me to. So you’re here, but you’re not all in. Maybe some of you have not even opened your mouth yet to sing a song. Because I’m here, but I’m not really.

That is how we can live our life.

Look at the shepherds. They hear these angels, and they say, we’ve got to go check it out. The kings, they saw a star, and they follow it. All in. Everyone here is all in.

The People You Don’t See

The people not at the Nativity are the ones that are not all in.

They are the ones saying, are you crazy? Like the kings going home and saying, “Honey, we saw a star.” And the queen saying, “Are you nuts? Why don’t we just wait and see what happens?”

Or the shepherds saying, “Hey guys, let’s see what’s going on.” And the others saying, “No, we’ve got work to do. We’ve got stuff to do.”

Or Joseph saying, “I’m going to take her as my wife.” And people saying, “What? You’re going to have to leave town. People are going to be asking questions.”

You don’t see all the people that are always encouraging you to take a shortcut, or to sin. Because every time you sin, that means you’re not all in.

Believe me, preaching is easy. Actually doing it is another story. I have to be honest with myself. Am I all in?

What You Should Actually Fear

I know fear can play a big part of it. We don’t know what’s going to happen.

But I can assure you, if you live your life by love rather than by fear, you’re going to get the most out of it.

The part you should be fearful of in your life is the part where you say, “I’m not going to do it your way. I’m going to do it my way.”

This could be with your boyfriend. This could be with your girlfriend. This could be living with someone. This could be whatever it is. I’m not all in.

That part, you should be afraid of. That is the part where you should say, if I’m not going to be with God and I’m going to go on my own, okay, good luck. I wish you all the best.

A Child’s Question About Death

Not too long ago, a child at our school asked me a question. He said, “Father, I’m afraid to die.”

And I answered it immediately. I said, “Oh, don’t worry. There’s no reason to be afraid. God is with you always. Don’t be afraid.”

Then I’m thinking, I should have answered that better.

A couple of weeks later, I said, “This is what I want to tell you. The reason why you live is the same reason why you die, to be with God, to be with the love of your life. That’s the reason.”

The reason why you live is to love. The reason why you die is to love, and to be with the love of your life, always.

So Christmas is either God comes to us, or Christmas is when we go to Him. It’s the same.

Sometimes people say to me, “Father, I can’t celebrate Christmas because around this time my father died, my mother died, my son died, my child died.”

No. You’re all in. You have to be all in in this world.

If someone you love died, that means it went from heaven to earth, to earth to heaven. And that’s it. That’s how life is. That’s how God wants. God wants to be with us, always.

That’s why the only thing we should fear is when we’re not all in.

A Story of “All In” Love and Mercy

There was one story I wanted to share with you. It’s going to seem random.

I read an article a while back about this Polish Olympian, Maria Andrzejczyk. I don’t even know if I’m spelling it right. She’s a javelin thrower from Poland, and she won the silver medal in the 2020 Olympics.

Can you imagine? You work tirelessly to win a medal. You’re not an Olympian part time. You’re an Olympian full time. You’re giving it your all.

Weeks later, she found out there was an eight-month-old baby that was dying and desperately needed an operation in another country, and the family couldn’t afford it.

So she put her medal up for auction. The medal she worked her life for. She was able to raise enough money for the family to take their child to get the surgery the baby needed.

The best part is the baby got the surgery, and she got her medal back. The person who gave the money said, “You have a heart of gold. You have a heart of gold, not silver, gold.”

The article ended by saying, “The true Olympic spirit.”

What? The true Olympic spirit? No. The true Olympic spirit is to compete to win.

This is the true Christian spirit. I’m all in.

To be all in means to be able to love and to show mercy. To be all in means, I trust in you, Lord. I love you. We’re in this together.

The Christmas Challenge

In today’s readings and in today’s Christmas celebration, we have to strive to be all in.

Ask yourself, what’s keeping you from doing that?

Amen?