Christmas is Love

 “Christmas is love.” Yes, so they say. But why?

The wonder of Christmas is the coming of our Lord as an innocent, fragile human child. Imagine! The King who holds the universe in the palm of his hand humbled himself by taking on flesh and becoming man.  The human creatures flunked God’s first test, in the fall of Adam and Eve. Christmas, or more precisely the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is a celebration of the deep, infinite love.  The marvel is that that God chose to make humans not only knowing full well we could fail in fulfilling our role as priests of God’s creation, but also knowing our potential for falling from grace (and losing some of His angels in the deal), He created us out of love. Our God, as a communion of three individual persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the origin of intimate and infinite love. God poured out his love in creation.

It is also through this love that the Son was born in a cave to a virgin and submitted to being raised as a young babe. Jesus Christ is the Messiah, but he grew up like any other child. He played, he laughed, he learned a trade from his stepfather, St. Joseph the Caregiver. He grew up as a righteous Jewish man and began His ministry as the son of God. It is the most gracious and deep love story we can participate in.

How are we to even begin to respond to such love? This is done best by giving back to God through participation in the Church and contributing to helping the poor and those in need of forgiveness and love. The response must be one of mercy and compas- sion, recognizing that all people have the imprint of God in them. That is to say, the child born unto us is present in all our lives. Personal prayer, fasting, and good deeds are crucial in the spiritual journey toward divination. However, participation in the worship of the Church is not optional. The Church has to be our center and focus.  It is here that we find Jesus Christ, where we personally receive him in Holy Communion. The liturgical worship of the Church is not just Father’s job, but everyone’s job.  so the best response to God’s immense love for us is to be invested in our Church liturgically, economically, and socially.

“Christ is born! Glorify Him!” And that’s what we say.

We sing this during the Nativity fast leading up to the great feast of the Nativity, and it will be our greeting from December 25 until Theophany on January 6. Je- sus says in the Gospel according to St. John:

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you de- sire, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you  will be my disciples. As the Father loved me, I also have loved you; abide in my love. (John 15:5–9)

This “abiding” means participating fully in the body of Christ. It is how we fully receive the gift of Christmas— God’s love – and love Him in return.