The Place Where We Find Love
A Christmas reflection with 'The Muppet Christmas Carol'
A Christmas Tradition
Let me start by confessing a tradition that I’ve picked up since coming to England. Every year, before Christmas, I gather some good company and watch a particular film that has, for me, become a must-have in the season. It’s a musical adaptation of Dickens’s famous novel, a masterpiece which - I dare say - rivals the original! Yes, I’m talking about ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’.
The Heart of Christmas
Beyond the humor and charm of this Disney classic, there’s a refrain in the film that strikes a chord deep within me every time I hear it. In one of the songs, the characters sing:
"Wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas.
A cup of kindness that we share with another,
A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother.
In all the places you find love, it feels like Christmas".
And isn’t that true? Christmas, for all of us, indeed even for non-religious people, has a way of drawing us back to what matters most—family, friends, and love. Yet, for this very reason, this time of year can have bittersweet feeling to it. It reminds us of those we’ve lost, of homes that feel emptier than they should.
What Makes a Home
Being at home isn’t just about having a roof over your head; it’s about being in a place where you feel loved and where you belong. To truly feel at home, we need something more—a warmth that comes not from bricks and mortar, but from the people who share our lives.
And there is nothing that transforms a house into a home quite like the birth of a child. When a child is born, everything changes. The house comes alive with laughter and cries, with the simple, profound demands of love. Life reorganizes itself around this new little person, and in giving oneself to them, one can find new joy, new purpose.
Coming Home to Christ
When Jesus was born, something similar happened, not just to a family, not just to Mary and Joseph, but to the whole world! The Son of God came into our humanity, into a world marked by isolation and division, to bring us into God’s family. His birth gives us a new home—a place where we can always find love.
That place, that home, is the Church. In the Church, we are not just individuals; we are members of a family, united by faith in the Good News proclaimed by the angels on this holy night:
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
Jesus’s birth transforms into God’s house not just a manger of 1st-century Judaea, but the hearts of all who welcome Him. His love turns isolation into belonging, loneliness into community. The Church is the house where this love is always found—not just on Christmas day, but every day of the year, and especially every Sunday when we gather as His family to be nourished by the Eucharist, the heavenly bread for our journey towards our eternal home with God.
At Home in the Church
The Church is the home Christ offers us, and it’s a home where we can share our life with one another. The bonds of friendship and charity we build here extend far beyond the walls of a building, helping us carry the joy of Christmas into every aspect of our lives.
So, if after having watched 'The Muppet Christmas Carol', you wonder where we can find a love that feels like Christmas, I’d say the answer is in the Church, in the family of believers, in the communion of those who have welcomed Christ into their hearts.
At Christmas, as we celebrate Jesus’s birth, let us also hear His invitation—to come back home. Whether it’s been a while or you’ve never left, this is your home too. Here, with your brothers and sisters in faith, is where you will always find God’s love.
And wherever you find His love, it will always feel like Christmas.
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the readers of Dominican Dispatches by Br Richard and Br Giovanni!
Image by Richard Steenvoorde