Home Alone and the Presence of Christmas

Everyone loves a good Christmas movie. Some people celebrate Christmas in July with a film. Others curl up to watch their favorite Christmas flicks starting November 1. But why do we love Christmas movies so much? In short, it is because they provide a feel-good image of the life for which we strive: harmony with the people around us and with Christ. On Christmas day above all others, people seem to put aside their issues and come together to celebrate. There are several movies that bring this ideal to life, but I am going to go with the 1990 classic, Home Alone.

Many of us are well aware of the plot line of this story, but if it has been a bit, here is a refresher. The McCallister family is headed to France to be with the rest of their extended family for Christmas. The night before they are to leave for the airport, eight-year-old Kevin blows up on his highly chaotic and dysfunctional family. He gets into a major fight with his mom, telling her some awful (yet not entirely unfounded) things and saying he hopes he never sees any of his family again. As he settles to sleep in the attic, Kevin wishes that his whole family would disappear. Overnight the power goes out, leaving no alarms to wake the McCallisters. They all oversleep. A frenzy takes over the house as everyone rushes to get ready and out of the house before the airport shuttle leaves. They make the plane in time, but the reprieve lasts only briefly. Kevin’s mom has the sense they have forgotten something, and she soon realizes they have forgotten not something but someone: Kevin!

Back at the McCallister residence, Kevin wakes up alone and truly believes he made his family disappear. At first, he is excited for his new freedom, to not be picked on, and not be told what to do. Kevin trashes his body with junk food, his mind with TV, and the house with a tarantula, among other things. Once the newness wears off, however, Kevin realizes he must step up and start taking care of himself and the house. He braves the basement and does laundry, and he shops for groceries. Kevin thrives in this independence and feels like he is doing pretty well until the Wet Bandits show up. The Wet Bandits are burglars who plan to clean out the valuables from each house on the block, targeting his house as the holy grail. After a brief retreat underneath his parent’s bed, Kevin is determined to now become the protector of his home. “This is my house,” he reminds himself. “I have to defend it!” As many of us know, one of the most comical series of boobie traps soon awaits the unsuspecting burglars.

Impressively, Kevin still finds time to prepare his home for Christmas. Keep in mind… he is 8. Kevin cuts down his own tree and decorates it; he cleans the house and brings out the Christmas dinnerware. In hope to receive his returning family, he prepares the way, just like we do in Advent to prepare the way for Christ to come.

Each year as we celebrate Christ’s birth, we are also looking ahead and living our life in great anticipation for Christ’s final return. In waiting for the presence of Christ, life can be scary and lonely. Just like Kevin, we can be faced with trials that threaten to take away our peace. We
see Kevin experience not only the trials of the Wet Bandits but also great loneliness. Even as he works up the courage to defend his house, he realizes that it is the presence of his family that truly makes it a home.

There is a scene when Kevin is walking back to his house, and he sees a family gathered around the tree in their living room. He walks away sad. He then passes the Catholic church, where he hears music and enters, seeking comfort. He encounters the “scary” neighbor who is listening to his granddaughter rehearse. We learn that, due to a fight he had with his son, he is not allowed to see his granddaughter. Kevin is wise beyond his years and encourages the man to make up with his son, especially with the holidays coming. Kevin has grown a lot in these last few days, going from never wanting to see his family again to wishing for their return.
Fast forward a bit. Kevin has fought off the Wet Bandits with some help from the neighbor, and it is now Christmas morning. Kevin wakes up and, in hopeful anticipation, runs downstairs looking for his family, but no one is there. However, he walks around the house and circles back to the front to find his mom in the entryway. The rest of his family comes in right after. Everyone rejoices over Kevin’s safety and all is forgotten from the fight before…well, except for Buzz and his destroyed room!

Despite how difficult being with family can be, the presence of our families is what brings out the joy of Christmas. Being alone on Christmas does not feel right, and Kevin and his neighbor show us the pain that this loneliness can cause. With Christmas we are celebrating the Word becoming flesh—Christ being among us. It is about union with each other and ultimately with our God.

Christmas is the Church’s proclamation that God is not distant. In the Incarnation, he chose presence—real, embodied presence through the Eucharist. Jesus came to us in the ordinary—in a quiet, hidden stable. He is present in the same way through day-to-day life with our dysfunctional families.

His presence does not end at Christmas though. Jesus remains present to us in His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, in His Word, in the quiet movements of our hearts, and in our families each day. So, this Christmas season, let us embrace our families and rejoice to have them with us, as Christ is with us.

“Our Savior, dearly beloved, was born today: let us rejoice. For there is no room for sadness now that Life has come near.” -St. Leo the Great
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Dr. Amber Moseley is a wife, mother and Senior Varsity Catholic Manager for FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students). She and her family reside in De Soto, Missouri.