We go to sleep at night filled with an abundance of worries and fears and then awake to a new day filled with hope and joy….thinking or feeling “Behold.”

On a cold, windy January morning with the snow accumulating and accumulating and a 10-year-old wakes up with a brand new red Christmas sled waiting for him in the garage… And an 80 year-old wakes up on that same brisk January morning and looks out at all the messy falling white stuff… Guess the word pops into both their heads?

What a beautifully colorful, strong word. It’s a sentence in itself. Just saying that one word writes a complete paragraph. We don’t hear it said in the middle or the end of a sentence. Using an exclamation point is not only redundant, but dumb. 

“Behold” has to be the first word to express something wonderful, scary, or a feeling needing to say that one word – “Behold.”

“The curtain’s been lifted.” The gift has been unwrapped. A baby has been born. A long life is given over to eternal life. The end of the movie is not what you expected.  Your surgery with the odds against you is successful.  That restless night awakens you to a beautiful sunrise.  

What was not known is now known. In faith, it also means embracing the unknown while the unknown remains a mystery. “Behold.” It startles you to say it and it startles those around you to hear it. 

It certainly is the only word those healed lepers, those unmuted, the sorrowful and the lonely, those with solvable quandaries, felt whether said or not. 

So, go ahead. On your next elderly birthday, before your feet hit the floor in the morning, you now know the spiritually impacted word to begin that new year. Yell it out, “Behold.”

Do you say “this” or do you say “behold”? This is your dinner bill,” says the server. Because you see, using “this” at a cheap restaurant makes perfect sense. At a fancy restaurant, however, the server would accurately proclaim, “Behold, here’s your dinner bill.” Car repairs? “This” or “Behold?” You be the judge.

It’s a relatively new word used in the Catholic Mass, replacing the word (ready for this!) That’s the word – “This.” Sound like a good change from this unchanging Church? When the priest raises the host and chalice which word best captures and holds your breath, “Behold” or “This”? No vote needed.
John the Baptist says it to all of us – both in his time and now during our time, “behold.” Mary can’t think of a better word to announce her pending birth. (I think just seeing a wide-winged angel barely fitting and standing in your living room talking to you alarms you enough to hear that word in your head and heart. 

A strong prayer is always offered both humbly and also empowering. That’s the definition of that word that I won’t bore you with by saying it again. It reminds us and alerts us to remember the Giver of this feast called life. Then our Creator empowers us to face any difficulty with the peaceful presence of God in our lives.

A peaceful and restful sleep awaits us because of the power of that one word. Our tomorrow is now the new endeavor of a new day lived within that believable one word.

Underused? You bet. Felt? You bet. I’ve never used it myself in conversation, and I’m confident none of you have. As the adage goes, “use it in a sentence today, and it will surely be your own.” That’s your homework assignment.

Proudly use that one word sometime today and see what happens. Whatever the content, it will truly move and empower you and then inspire or awaken those who hear it.

“This and that” is the boring response when asked, “What did you do today.” “Behold” is the epiphany presented to you at how many moments in your life and “beheld” is what you tightly clung to your entire life.