The light of Christmas has not disappeared, but it no longer gathers us effortlessly. It moves ahead of us, asking to be carried into places where faith must justify itself, not by atmosphere, but by integrity. The magi leave by another road; the Holy Family moves again; and the light that reveals God also rearranges life. The Church does not exist to soften that reality: she exists to remain faithful to it. THERE is a reason that the Church does not rush from celebration to spectacle.