A Christmas Visit
The three men walked along Important Street with a mission in mind. But that didn't stop them from looking at all the bright decorations all around.
"It's disgraceful," said the shortest of the three men. He was balding and wore a denim jacket with a fleece lining. "All this showing off."
"I think it's pretty," said the tallest among them. In contrast to the first speaker, he had long hair, tied in a ponytail, and wore a brown leather duster.
"All those Santa Clauses on every corner, ringing bells," said the first man. "I know the real Saint Nicholas wouldn't be pleased, any more than-"
He broke off, and both men looked at their companion.
The third man in this little group was looking at a Nativity set in a store window. He had shoulder-length hair and a moderate beard, and wore a secondhand car coat. If the first man looked like a construction worker and the second like a musician, this one seemed to be an artist, judging by his long fingers and sensitive expression. In truth, he had never put brush to canvas, though he was the subject of many paintings.
"What do you think?" the first man said, leaning in to get a better look. "Is it right?"
"How should I know, Pete?" He seemed fascinated by the star they'd hung over it-a fiber-optic bulb that changed colors every few seconds. "It's not like I remember." His voice was soft and gentle.
"It's not wrong, though, is it, Jess?" the second man asked.
Jess sighed. "Not from what I've been told," he said. "But I always thought they exaggerated a bit. People stopped by, but not so many people-and not from so far away." His gaze fell on the Three Wise Men on their camels.
"Gold didn't last long, did it?" said Pete.
"Long enough to get us out of the country." Jess straightened up as the clock in a nearby church steeple tolled one. "We'd better go. We're late."
They hurried down the street, past the church, to a large stone house a few doors down. The sign said Diocese of Bottstown Chancery.
"I don't believe it," Pete said. "Look at it! Looks like a hotel, doesn't it? All we had were three rooms over an inn, remember, Jim?" Jim nodded. "And we didn't even have a fancy sign. Kept the doors locked, most of the time."
"Gentlemen." Jess led the way inside.
There was a reception desk, with a matronly-looking woman on the telephone. When she saw them, she put it down and said, "You can't see His Eminence without an appointment!"
"We have an appointment," said Jess. "One o'clock, Jesse Carpenter."
She squinted at something on the desk. "I don't see a one o'clock here!" "Look again."
She took another look. There in the one o'clock slot, was the name J. Carpenter.
"I see. Well, His Eminence is extremely busy. I'll see if he's available."
"Don't bother." Jess pushed past her, his two companions following in his wake.
His Eminence Gerald Cardinal Stone was with his personal assistant when the door to his office opened, and a scruffy hippie-looking type came in without so much as knocking.
"What is going on here?" Cardinal Stone demanded.
"It's very important that I speak with you, Your Eminence," Jess said.
Pete eyeballed the assistant. "Go on, get out of here, you," he said. "Go hide some more documents or something."
"Sir . . ."
"It's all right, Donald. I can handle this." Stone came around to the other side of his desk as Donald beat a hasty retreat. "Sit down, gentlemen."
"I can't stay long," Jess said. "I've come to deliver a message."
Stone looked him over carefully. "Are you with The People Speak Out?"
"Come again?"
"The lay group that's trying to get me to resign."
Jess shook his head. "No, I'm not with any group, and I didn't come here to get you fired. I came to tell you that you need to reevaluate your priorities. We're not happy with the way you're serving your people."
"Wait just a second. Who are you?"
"Here he goes," Pete whispered to Jim. "Betcha he does the halo."
"Your boss," Jess said.
There was a flash of light, and Jess was standing there in pure white robes. There was a ring of light above his head.
"What did I tell you?"
Stone fell to his knees. "Forgive me," he whispered, touching his head to the floor.
Jesus looked at him like He would a bug on the sidewalk. "Get up."
"Please, my Lord, have mercy . . ."
"I'm not the one you should be asking for forgiveness. You have betrayed your flock. You stood by and did nothing while innocent children were abused by your priests, and you-did-nothing!"
"This is great!" Pete said.
"Great?"
"Remember when he threw the moneychangers out of the temple? I've been wanting to see him kick ass like that for a long time!"
"I don't think he wants to kick that man's ass," Jim said.
"Course he does! We've been talking about this for months, and he said all he wants to do is come down and give that-"
Jesus gave him a look. The two apostles were silent.
"This goes further than me," Stone was trying to explain. "Removing me won't stop it."
"No, but it will end the conspiracy of silence you've maintained all these years," Jesus said. His voice was even, but the anger in it was clear. "It's time to stop hiding behind those robes and start living what they represent."
"What would You have me do, Lord?" Jesus turned His eyes to Heaven. Then He said, "Repent of your sins. Face up to the consequences of your actions. Listen to your heart, and do what you know is right."
"Even if that means resigning?"
Jesus reached down and took the man's hand. "You can be forgiven," He said, "if you sincerely apologize, and turn your back on your sinful ways."
"I will, Lord. I will do the right thing." He bowed down to the ground again. When he raised his head, Jess was back in his hippie clothes.
"Our work here is done," he said. "Remember what I said. Live up to those vows you took, and serve your people."
He motioned to Peter and James, and the three left the office.
"That's it?" Pete said, when they were back on the street. "Tell him to apologize, and trust him to do it? I think we've seen what he does with people's trust."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Jim said. "He looks like he had the fear of God put into him, all right."
Jess nodded. "Right now he's on the phone making plane reservations for Rome."
"He gonna resign?" Pete asked.
"I believe so."
"The question is," Jim asked, "what happens now? How can we be sure the next one won't be just as bad?"
Jess smiled. "Trust me," he said. A ray of sunshine broke through the clouds and backlit him, making him look like the image in his portraits.
Back on Important Street, the Santas were still ringing their bells. Jess dropped a little something in every one of their buckets. He remembered well what it was like to be poor.
"So you don't mind it, then?" Pete asked.
"Mind what?"
"What they've done to the holiday. They don't even celebrate it on the right day! And I should know, I've been to enough of your birthday parties." Jess looked around, at the tinsel and lights, at the sale signs and Santas, and he said, "The world is not a perfect place. It never will be. But Christmas is about hope. The hope that things will get better. And who knows, maybe they will."
The three began to sing as they walked along:
"Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the plains. And the mountains in reply, Echoing their joyous strains. Glooooooria in excelsis deo Glooooooria in excelsis deo."
By the time they reached the corner of Common Avenue, they had faded away and disappeared. But the song still remained.
Author's Note: When I started this story, I intended it to be a light- hearted piece about Jesus' reaction to our modern Christmas celebration. Unfortunately, real life got in the way. I live in Massachusetts (though I set the story in a fictional place), where the abuse scandal has gotten the most press, and I felt Jesus couldn't just sit by and let it happen without having something to say.
The three men walked along Important Street with a mission in mind. But that didn't stop them from looking at all the bright decorations all around.
"It's disgraceful," said the shortest of the three men. He was balding and wore a denim jacket with a fleece lining. "All this showing off."
"I think it's pretty," said the tallest among them. In contrast to the first speaker, he had long hair, tied in a ponytail, and wore a brown leather duster.
"All those Santa Clauses on every corner, ringing bells," said the first man. "I know the real Saint Nicholas wouldn't be pleased, any more than-"
He broke off, and both men looked at their companion.
The third man in this little group was looking at a Nativity set in a store window. He had shoulder-length hair and a moderate beard, and wore a secondhand car coat. If the first man looked like a construction worker and the second like a musician, this one seemed to be an artist, judging by his long fingers and sensitive expression. In truth, he had never put brush to canvas, though he was the subject of many paintings.
"What do you think?" the first man said, leaning in to get a better look. "Is it right?"
"How should I know, Pete?" He seemed fascinated by the star they'd hung over it-a fiber-optic bulb that changed colors every few seconds. "It's not like I remember." His voice was soft and gentle.
"It's not wrong, though, is it, Jess?" the second man asked.
Jess sighed. "Not from what I've been told," he said. "But I always thought they exaggerated a bit. People stopped by, but not so many people-and not from so far away." His gaze fell on the Three Wise Men on their camels.
"Gold didn't last long, did it?" said Pete.
"Long enough to get us out of the country." Jess straightened up as the clock in a nearby church steeple tolled one. "We'd better go. We're late."
They hurried down the street, past the church, to a large stone house a few doors down. The sign said Diocese of Bottstown Chancery.
"I don't believe it," Pete said. "Look at it! Looks like a hotel, doesn't it? All we had were three rooms over an inn, remember, Jim?" Jim nodded. "And we didn't even have a fancy sign. Kept the doors locked, most of the time."
"Gentlemen." Jess led the way inside.
There was a reception desk, with a matronly-looking woman on the telephone. When she saw them, she put it down and said, "You can't see His Eminence without an appointment!"
"We have an appointment," said Jess. "One o'clock, Jesse Carpenter."
She squinted at something on the desk. "I don't see a one o'clock here!" "Look again."
She took another look. There in the one o'clock slot, was the name J. Carpenter.
"I see. Well, His Eminence is extremely busy. I'll see if he's available."
"Don't bother." Jess pushed past her, his two companions following in his wake.
His Eminence Gerald Cardinal Stone was with his personal assistant when the door to his office opened, and a scruffy hippie-looking type came in without so much as knocking.
"What is going on here?" Cardinal Stone demanded.
"It's very important that I speak with you, Your Eminence," Jess said.
Pete eyeballed the assistant. "Go on, get out of here, you," he said. "Go hide some more documents or something."
"Sir . . ."
"It's all right, Donald. I can handle this." Stone came around to the other side of his desk as Donald beat a hasty retreat. "Sit down, gentlemen."
"I can't stay long," Jess said. "I've come to deliver a message."
Stone looked him over carefully. "Are you with The People Speak Out?"
"Come again?"
"The lay group that's trying to get me to resign."
Jess shook his head. "No, I'm not with any group, and I didn't come here to get you fired. I came to tell you that you need to reevaluate your priorities. We're not happy with the way you're serving your people."
"Wait just a second. Who are you?"
"Here he goes," Pete whispered to Jim. "Betcha he does the halo."
"Your boss," Jess said.
There was a flash of light, and Jess was standing there in pure white robes. There was a ring of light above his head.
"What did I tell you?"
Stone fell to his knees. "Forgive me," he whispered, touching his head to the floor.
Jesus looked at him like He would a bug on the sidewalk. "Get up."
"Please, my Lord, have mercy . . ."
"I'm not the one you should be asking for forgiveness. You have betrayed your flock. You stood by and did nothing while innocent children were abused by your priests, and you-did-nothing!"
"This is great!" Pete said.
"Great?"
"Remember when he threw the moneychangers out of the temple? I've been wanting to see him kick ass like that for a long time!"
"I don't think he wants to kick that man's ass," Jim said.
"Course he does! We've been talking about this for months, and he said all he wants to do is come down and give that-"
Jesus gave him a look. The two apostles were silent.
"This goes further than me," Stone was trying to explain. "Removing me won't stop it."
"No, but it will end the conspiracy of silence you've maintained all these years," Jesus said. His voice was even, but the anger in it was clear. "It's time to stop hiding behind those robes and start living what they represent."
"What would You have me do, Lord?" Jesus turned His eyes to Heaven. Then He said, "Repent of your sins. Face up to the consequences of your actions. Listen to your heart, and do what you know is right."
"Even if that means resigning?"
Jesus reached down and took the man's hand. "You can be forgiven," He said, "if you sincerely apologize, and turn your back on your sinful ways."
"I will, Lord. I will do the right thing." He bowed down to the ground again. When he raised his head, Jess was back in his hippie clothes.
"Our work here is done," he said. "Remember what I said. Live up to those vows you took, and serve your people."
He motioned to Peter and James, and the three left the office.
"That's it?" Pete said, when they were back on the street. "Tell him to apologize, and trust him to do it? I think we've seen what he does with people's trust."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Jim said. "He looks like he had the fear of God put into him, all right."
Jess nodded. "Right now he's on the phone making plane reservations for Rome."
"He gonna resign?" Pete asked.
"I believe so."
"The question is," Jim asked, "what happens now? How can we be sure the next one won't be just as bad?"
Jess smiled. "Trust me," he said. A ray of sunshine broke through the clouds and backlit him, making him look like the image in his portraits.
Back on Important Street, the Santas were still ringing their bells. Jess dropped a little something in every one of their buckets. He remembered well what it was like to be poor.
"So you don't mind it, then?" Pete asked.
"Mind what?"
"What they've done to the holiday. They don't even celebrate it on the right day! And I should know, I've been to enough of your birthday parties." Jess looked around, at the tinsel and lights, at the sale signs and Santas, and he said, "The world is not a perfect place. It never will be. But Christmas is about hope. The hope that things will get better. And who knows, maybe they will."
The three began to sing as they walked along:
"Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the plains. And the mountains in reply, Echoing their joyous strains. Glooooooria in excelsis deo Glooooooria in excelsis deo."
By the time they reached the corner of Common Avenue, they had faded away and disappeared. But the song still remained.
Author's Note: When I started this story, I intended it to be a light- hearted piece about Jesus' reaction to our modern Christmas celebration. Unfortunately, real life got in the way. I live in Massachusetts (though I set the story in a fictional place), where the abuse scandal has gotten the most press, and I felt Jesus couldn't just sit by and let it happen without having something to say.