May these reflections give you some thought as to how our favorite movies/specials teach us about God entering the World.
Home Alone: A Reflection on Fear, Family, and the desires of our Hearts
“I made my family disappear”- one of the greatest lines said by Kevin McCallister to the camera while
moving his eyebrows up and down in this classic Christmas movie, is something that many of us may have hoped for in our lives at some point.
Often, when we feel overwhelmed, it is easiest to lash out at our family members because they are either the instigators or barriers keeping us from having a moment of peace or fulfilling our plans. What we don’t see in these moments of frustration is the effect that we have on our family members and what our Christmas plans are actually for. With all of the expectations that the world has of us around the holidays, what Home Alone teaches us as people of faith is that the gift of Jesus in a manger is the gift of family.
His birth is the celebration of a family that has finally come face to face and embraced each other through a stable in Bethlehem. We can plan and prepare with great attention to detail for the coming of Jesus, but when we hurt our families in the process or we choose to cut our family out of our lives to get this ideal state of mind, it is counterintuitive to what the Advent season is about.
Advent is preparation, but it is the preparation that we must do in our hearts to receive Jesus in our family and not be afraid of reaching out to mend our relationships that have gone sour. Just like how Kevin faces his fears by confronting the man salting the sidewalks or how that man confronts his fears of reconnecting with his son, they realize that there is nothing to lose and everything to gain in humbly reaching out again.