Let us:
Worship fully! Live radically! Love completely!
This week as we celebrate the birth of Jesus,
we rejoice that our God cared so deeply for us
that he came to live among us.
Through Jesus we learn
to love and care for one another
with a spirit of humility and compassion.
Thank you for all that you do
to help us bring light and hope
to people in need each day.
May the love and peace of God
be with you during this Christmas,
and throughout the year to come.
May God fill you and all those you love with the light of Jesus Christ.
For He will always be the reason we celebrate this day.
No substitute the world may offer can take that meaning away.
If young Jesus had a Christmas list we bet an iPhone or Xbox wouldn’t be on it. He’d asked instead for love and time spent with family. And we wish you exactly the same!
Many individuals in our world are separated by social and political differences, strife and hatred. Others feel lost and lonely; some have no hope in their hearts. We must share the good news, for “God so loved the world that he gave…” We have much to celebrate this Christmas season because God loves us so much.
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REFLECTIONS ON THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST AND CHRISTMAS FILLING OUR WORLD
“He lies in a manger but He holds the world in His hand;
he is nourished at the breast but He feeds the angels;
He is wrapped in swaddling clothes
but He clothes us with immortality;
He is nursed but is adored;
He does not find room in the inn
but He makes a temple for Himself in the hearts of believers.
For Strength took on weakness
that weakness might become strong.
Therefore,
let us marvel at His human birth;
from it let us learn the lowliness which such loftiness assumed for our sake.
Then let us enkindle our love
so that we may come to His eternal day.”
Saint Augustine
Christmas itself is the greatest gift
ever exchanged in human history.
Christmas is God gifting
God’s only son to the world.
Jesus himself is the gift.
There has never been
nor will there ever be
a greater exchange of gift
or a greater gift in human history.
Thomas Mar Eusebius
“There are realities deeper than the surface of things. God’s presence and his action in our world is the fundamental reality. How easily merely human things can crumble. . . . Think of those societies that make no place for God and live only for secular things. . . . Even our much-loved and valued families can be very fragile in their relationships. We see the results of sin, selfishness and godlessness all around us.
“Yet our God knows this. He has lived among us, even as an infant. He knows our weakness and our fragility. He loved us to the end, accepting even death on the cross, and he loves us still.
“We need to approach him with the honesty and simplicity of the shepherds. Humility is a form of honesty. We need you, Lord. We welcome you, and we cannot carry on without you.”
Archbishop John Myers, Christmas 2011
“From the crib of Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary, he gave his life completely as a gift of love. That is how we should live. By loving others as Jesus has loved us. With the gift of our whole self.
“I pray that this Christmas we will all open ourselves to God’s gift and allow a new spirit of generous love to be born in our hearts”
“Because our time is so precious, it is a beautiful gift. So let us try to be more generous with our time and more ‘present’ to others; less distracted. One thing that would help: Let’s try to turn off our phones and computers more often so we can really pay attention to the people we love.”
“Jesus is the greatest gift that God could ever give us. So let’s remember also that Jesus is the greatest gift that we can give to others. In the coming year, let’s try with new intensity to share the gift of our Catholic faith with our neighbors and in our public life.”
Archbishop José Gomez, Christmas 2011
