Reflections Of Christmas 2011

What is Christmas?

Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, Jesus, the Son of God. He was born from the womb of Mary, the Virgin Mother, and in humility, among stable animals that would one day be slaughtered and fed to nourish the body, and He, paralleling their humble fate, too, would one day be crucified and fed, but to nourish the spirit.

Christmas is a season to be thankful for the gift of God, His Son, who walked on the same earth that we walk on, walked into history that we live with and showed us the way to eternal peace that some have rejected and others are struggling to follow.

Christmas is a season to admire the obedience and humility of Mary, the Virgin Mother, who accepted fully the shame of an unwed and pregnant mother to bear the blessed fruit of her womb, and the obedience and humility of Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus, who took the already-conceived Mary as his spouse.

Christmas is a season to think of the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, when they all took part in the greatest miracle of all, the virgin birth of Jesus, the Son of God. It was the God, the Father of humankind, Who willed His Son to be man, Who willed Mary, the Virgin Mother, to be conceived by the Holy Spirit and Who willed Jesus to be born.

Christmas is a season to think of the Blessed Virgin Mary who is the human daughter of God, the spouse of the Holy Spirit and the mother of God's Son, Jesus.

Christmas is a time to listen to Christmas carols. “O Holy Night” sung by Leontyne Price and recorded circa 1961 with Herbert von Karajan is a heart-felt performance that makes my eyes well up. In this recording, Ms Leontyne Price’s immortalized voice is spatially limitless and spiritually uplifting. Hear it on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8g5cpNUzyY&feature=related.

Above all, Christmas is taking time off from all the shopping, traveling, eating, drinking and partying to say a prayer of gratitude that Jesus has come so that each of us can feel safe even in the most scared, lonely and painful of times because He is here to help.