December 2009 Newsletter

John 1:14
" So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." (New Living Translation)

The birth of Jesus is the greatest example of humility the world has ever known. The Author of Life, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, decides to take flesh and dwell among one of His lowly creatures. This act did not diminish His awesome majesty in any way but the guise of a vulnerable Child served to cover His greatness from our earthly eyes. In this life, none of us are worthy of seeing God face to face (Beatific vision) but in appearing as a defenseless Child, Jesus draws all our love and wholehearted attention to Himself. He wanted to abridge the gap between us and God the Father and He wanted to encourage us to call God - Abba ("daddy"), up until that point in history, probably very few people felt that level of comfort to be able to address God in such familiar terms.

What can make the all-powerful God leave His place in the ethereal heavens and assume a human form with limitations, subject to infirmities, weaknesses and hunger?  The only possible explanation is that the Mercy of God outweighs all His other attributes, even His humility. The justice demanded by the Father for the disobedience and sinful nature of man could only be appeased by the generous and merciful heart of His Son. No other sacrifice could have ever sufficed to allow us to be co-heirs and adopted children of God. Considering our lowly nature (compared to that of the angels) and our natural propensity towards sin, the Mercy of God is something that we can never truly fathom. Nothing we can do, no matter how great it is and how much glory it brings God, can ever fully thank God for the great gift of His Son Jesus and for the opportunity to be saved and live with Him in heaven for all eternity.

If we want to please Jesus this Christmas, the greatest gift we can bring Him is a humble and contrite heart.

Psalm 51:17:
"The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and contrite heart, O God." (New Living Translation)

Let us all rid ourselves for one moment of the false trappings that surround us and dangerously inflate our egos: the materialism, the titles of distinction that fill us with pride and possibly make us feel superior to others, the arrogance, the blindness and indifference to other peoples' needs, and the callousness towards obeying God's Commandments because in doing so, we may have to make great personal sacrifices. Let us not forget that Jesus made the greatest sacrifice for all men 2,000 years ago. There is no sacrifice we can make, or anyone else can make, that can compare or will ever compare.

Our lives are a journey over the hills and valleys of this perilous existence. The destination we aspire to is heaven and this will only come true for us if we are willing to make our own sacrifices and deprive ourselves of those things (even people and places) that cause us to sin and trample on God's Commandments.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone visiting this site. May the Infant Jesus bless you and your families abundantly. In closing we offer Pope Benedict XVI's prayer given during his visit to the Infant of Prague at Our Lady of Victory Church in Prague, Czech, on September 26, 2009:

"Lord Jesus, we see you as a child and believe that you were the Son of God, become man by the work of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

As at Bethlehem, we too join with Mary, Joseph, the angels and the shepherds in adoring you and acknowledging you as our only Saviour.

You made yourself poor that we may be enriched by your poverty.

Grant that we may never forget the poor and all those who suffer.

Protect our families.

Bless all the children of the world. May there always reign among us the love you have given us and which make our life happier.

O Jesus, grant that all may recognize the truth of your birth, so that all know that you came to bring light, happiness and peace to the whole human family.

For you are God and live and reign with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen."