Christmas Day
Reflection
Christmas is a day of hope as well as joy. We do not celebrate Jesus’ birthday remembering something that happened long ago. We celebrate the stupendous fact of the Incarnation. “This is a profound faith statement by which we hold that the Holy One, the source of everything that is, emerged most fully in Jesus of Nazareth. We hold that in everything Jesus stood for, lived and proclaimed, he was and still is the clearest expression of God’s presence in our midst. Our faith proclaims God as the source of the perfection, goodness, compassion, mercy, and love manifest in Jesus. The divine in him graced and sanctified his humanity, allowed it to be suffused by and to manifest no less than God. And as amazing as this is there is still more, for even as Jesus embodied divinity in his humanity, he challenges us to follow him.”(Barabara Fiand). God continues to take flesh in us, the men, women and children who form God’s body today. The birth we celebrate is not just a past historical event but a celebration of Christ’s continual birth in us.
Prayer
Glory to God and on earth peace.
Action
Rejoice in the meaning of the Incarnation in Jesus and in God’s presence in us.
Suggested Reading
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us.
John 1:13-14
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing.
Isaiah 9:1-6
God never gives someone a gift they are not capable of receiving. If God gives us the gift of Christmas, it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it.
Pope Francis
We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and humankind. They who have faith know this truly; let them rejoice.
Pope Paul VI .
Christmas proclaims the Incarnation, that God is among us, one of us. God is always in the present moment, and all things are possible.
llia Delio
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.
Hamilton Wright Mabie
What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.
Agnes M. Pahro
Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.
Janice Maeditere
As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is.
Eric Sevareid
One of the things that Christmas reminds us is that Jesus Christ was once a child.
Hark Herald Sarmiento
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
Charles Dickens