God’s Christmas Gift To Us

Sunday, December 18, 2022

READINGS: IS 52:7-10; PS 98:1-6; HEB 1:1-6; JN 1:1-18

The parish staff, deacons, and priests, wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and the gift of peace, joy and laughter in the coming New Year.

We celebrate this annual holiday because of two important elements.  First is because God so loved a sinful humanity, he sent his only begotten son Jesus Christ to become flesh, and to be one of us. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus endured all that the human person experiences except sin. God knew the impact that sin has on his creation, bringing sickness, suffering, and death. We needed a savior to deliver us from sin’s destructive effects and we needed someone to announce the Goodnews of God’s forgiveness to us. Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem in simple surroundings and lived in poverty to experience the totality of the human person.

The second element is that God chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, a humble teenager, to be his instrument to bring about the birth of the savior.  When the angel Gabriel announced that she would be God’s instrument to save the world through the birth of his son Jesus, Mary responded, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word.”  With those words, Mary placed her total trust in God.  We are invited to do the same! Her response to God is the same response we need to offer the Lord.

Jesus was made visible to the world through Mary physically, but He should be made visible to the world through us as well.  Who we are and how we relate to others is a sign to the world of who Jesus is and what a Christian should be.  Are we showing the world what it means to be His disciple?  There is no better time than today to do so.