It seems that every year Christmas music begins playing earlier and earlier. Usually many wait until Thanksgiving. The zealots will start on November 1, after Halloween. The extremists will start blasting Christmas music after Labor Day.

I understand, everyone loves Christmas music! We can all agree on that, but then begins the next debate: which Christmas song is the best?

We can argue that the scriptural songs better capture the essence of the season. While the nostalgia that comes from the cultural classics bring a special warmth to the heart. All the while we belt out the historical hymns in Church. We all have our favorites and that is ok. When we stop and think of our favorite song, we can hopefully find a way to bring it back to the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of the Messiah. 

I have thought a lot about the unofficial anthem of Christmas songs, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You. This song was written and first performed in 1994 and has spent 65 weeks on the Billboard’s Hot 100 and at the time of the writing of this blog post the song is tied for sixth-longest number 1 spots of all time at 15 weeks. It is an incredible achievement! Carey was subsequently crowned as the “Queen of Christmas” because of her song. In an interview on BBC radio she stated “I did not do that [call herself the Queen of Christmas]. That was other people, and I just want to stay humble… to me, Mary is the Queen of Christmas.”

The very famous All I Want for Christmas is You can be a great moment of reflection and contemplation for all Christians. The entire song is very joyful and upbeat, but the beginning lyrics take us deeper as we listen to the most famous and beautiful riffs in all of music. This same introduction of the song serves as the reflection of this post:

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you

If we consider that this is Jesus speaking to each one of us, how much more meaning does this song provide us. This is the mystery of what we celebrate at Christmas. That God wants us for His own, so much so that He becomes a human being like us.

Jesus wants us more than we could ever know. He loves us more than we could ever know. He wants you and me for Christmas. He wants us to give Him our heart. He wants our joys, desires, hopes, and dreams. He wants our anxieties, sadness, worries, and preoccupations. He wants us all. How can we give Jesus ourselves for Christmas?

As we celebrate the Christmas season, let us make a firm resolution to ask Jesus what He wants me to surrender to Him. Sometimes we can encounter a hinderance: I don’t want to give up my (insert thing here) because it requires a change and growth. Sometimes we are comfortable where we are, even if it includes our own sinfulness. Jesus wants us all!

Let us ask the Holy Spirit for the courage and boldness to give Jesus our whole lives, that this Christmas season may be different than the ones in previous years. That we may make of our lives the best Christmas present that Jesus receives this December 25.

From all of us here at St. John Vianney College Seminary, Merry Christmas!