Reflection
Christ shines into the world through us when we carry him within. When we live his vision of love and harmony, when we are moved with compassion for those who suffer, when we lend our efforts to building relationships of justice and peace, when we try to heal divisions and acrimony, then we enflesh his words and allow this world to know Emmanuel…God with us.
Prayer
God of mercy and compassion, grant that our lives may be faithful to the promise of Christmas. May we build peace and unity rather than anger and separation into our contacts with others.
Action
What changes must I make in my thinking and living to follow the gospel message more closely?
Suggested Reading
He opened the book and found the place where
these words are written-
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Because God anointed me to preach good tidings
to the poor:
God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovering of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those that are bruised,
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord’s favor.
Luke 4:18
To love as Christ means to put yourself at the service of your brothers and sisters.
Pope Francis
It is the personal thoughtfulness, the warm human awareness, the reaching out of the self to one’s fellow man that makes giving worthy of the Christmas spirit.
Isabel Currier.
Love cannot remain by itself — it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service.
Mother Teresa
Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?
Bob Hope
This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ.
Frank McKibben
He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.
Roy L. Smith