Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. (Psalms 2:9)

Christ is, perhaps, less in Christmas because Advent has been left behind. A penitential season has been replaced with preparations for an orgy of consumption.

Christmas is full of regrets.

It is a time when very few receive the gift most desired... which even for the most secular is often a spiritual gift. Nostalgia, expectations, and noise crowd out spiritual possibilities.

In Latin paenitere means "almost, but not quite."

The penitent person regrets being so close, but failing to achieve the goal. It is a sense of what Christmas is meant to be, and could be, but so seldom is that fuels our regret.

Too often we simply hold onto regret.

There is sacramental potential in our regrets. But to fulfill this potential the regret must prompt contrition and contrition must lead to a change of attitude and behavior.

God I offer to you all my regrets.

Break them, dash them to pieces, and replace my regrets with an attitude of thanksgiving and praise for all the great gifts you have so lavishly provided.

You may listen to Thou shalt break Them from the Messiah performed by the Academy of St. Martin's in the Fields.