We approach the time of year when many are engaged in seasonal preparations, especially mailing the annual Christmas card. There are a number of stories about the first such card. One that resonates with me is about Henry Cole who, in 1843, was reportedly the first person to issue premade cards in volume. Cole was prodigiously popular at a time when one could not leave correspondence unanswered. Feeling the pressure of the season to respond to his army of friends, he commissioned what we would now call a traditional card, printed on hard cardboard stock, with the greeting, ‘A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You.’ The story is he had at least a thousand printed.

A most enjoyable but initially unexpected role I assumed as president of a Catholic university was selecting and approving the institution’s Christmas card. The first time it happened I was presented with a series of proposals, together with a half dozen choice quotations from the Bible. Watching my creative teams put together the cards for the season was a delight, and in time we began to experiment with the format. One year we arranged for a competition among elementary school students where we selected the top five drawings for that year. The submitted images featured angels, a nativity scene, a number of beautiful stars, a Santa delivering the baby Jesus (which wasn’t selected!), and one that featured a well-known hockey star bedecked in Christmas gear. Alas, I couldn’t, in good conscience, support the team in question, so that one was nixed! Toronto Maple Leafs indeed!

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Just as enjoyable for me was the wording. It won’t surprise anyone to learn the Gospel of Luke was a favourite: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (2: 8–14). Luke 2:10 was equally popular: “And the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.”’ One year, to accompany a card featuring the three wise men, we considered the words of Matthew: “Ahead of them went the star that they had seen in the east, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy”(2: 9–10).

The Gospel of John was also another possible source. John speaks of the meaning of Christ’s birth, celebrating the ‘glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth’ (1:14). While many of the Biblical passages are understandably sourced from the New Testament, there are also powerful readings from the Old Testament, perhaps none so clear as that from Isaiah: “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the virgin is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel” (7: 14).

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When I became President of Corpus Christi College and Principal of St. Mark’s College at UBC, my first thought was to feature our namesake as much as possible. Then I recalled that Mark is the one Gospel writer who doesn’t mention the birth of Jesus or the nativity. Matthew and Luke describe the entire story, from conception to birth, but Mark is silent on the subject. Even more interesting is that Mark’s Gospel is said to be the one written first. Commentators point out Mark’s focus was on celebrating Christ’s teachings, and then immortalizing his death and resurrection. Mark, in other words, considered the salvational sacrifice as the culmination of the Good News, the miracle that gave meaning to the gift of Christ’s time on earth.

Despite this different focus, many commentators remind us Mark is no less relevant to the Christmas message. As Fr. Peter Edmonds explains, if “we miss the attractiveness of the drama provided by Matthew and Luke, which translates so readily into the excitement of nativity plays and the artistry of the Christmas crib, we need not miss out on their message if we give serious attention to the brief but profound language of Mark.” The Gospel of Mark “gives us plenty to celebrate in recognising the loving activity of God in our world.” I haven’t decided what passage I will use for our Christmas cards this year, but I know whatever I choose, it will be imbued with the spirit of hope that the Gospel stories promise. Canada Post permitting, of course.