December 25, 2003
The Lesson of Bethlehem
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope this day is full of peace, joy, and happiness for each and every one of you.
I likewise hope that each of you take time today to reflect on the event that is the very heart of Christmas, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Even in His birth our Lord teaches us. So what is the lesson of Bethlehem?
It is the lesson of perfect love. A love that was so perfect that it was willing to suffer poverty and rejection, thus coming to the world in a stable or cave, in the dead of winter. A love that was self-giving and foreshadowing the giving of His flesh to us in the Eucharist, for they laid Him in a manger, a place where animals gathered to eat when their master would feed them. A love that is obedient, for with His parents He submitted to the census of Caesar Augustus, thus, through obedience, fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament. Most importantly, His love was then and is now a love of humility, for the Son of God, the King of heaven and earth, was willing to come to us mere men in their very nature to "dwell among us" and to save us. How great His love is for us! Thanks be to God.
Again, I wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas. May the love of the Christ Child fill our hearts and make us whole. May the peace experienced that great night so long ago by St. Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and the shepherds visit our hearts and homes today and all the days of the coming year. Let us gather around the manger and silently ponder in our hearts, with Mary, this little Child who loves us so much.
Merry Christmas,
Joe
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