The Christmas Gift

Dec 6, 2011

Once again the joyful time of our Saviour’s birth is upon us and we are reminded of the great blessing of God coming to earth as man.  With this magnificent act of humility and love God showed mankind that He is not a distant God but the one true God whose desire is to be with us not only in spirit but in flesh also.  The Divine One exposed the depth of His love for mankind by sending His only Son so that mankind could come to know that truly we are the family of God and that mankind is truly loved by God. In that holy moment in Bethlehem mankind’s saviour took His first breath and in doing so breathed a new beginning for mankind.  In His divine breath was the renewing exhalation of God that came to blow away the old misunderstandings and replace them with the full truth of God’s divine love. In the first heartbeat outside the womb that the Holy Child of Bethlehem had was nothing but love; love of His Father and love of mankind.  With that heartbeat began a new relationship of love between God and man.  Every heartbeat that followed in His Holy life was the same as the first one. For His heart never stopped loving and His heart never stopped showing how God treasured mankind’s love.

As Our Divine Lord opened His eyes the first sight He saw was His mother Mary and He looked upon her in love.  Then He looked to Joseph in love and saw in both of them how the love of mankind can be; pure and holy.  In these two humans He saw how mankind was created to be. When His mother held Him in her arms close to her chest and rocked Him gently back and forth the Lord, Jesus, felt her love and felt the comfort of it.  While at the same time she was filled with the joy of the divine love of God touching her.

Now the Lord, Jesus, looks to all of us with those same eyes that looked upon Joseph and Mary and He looks upon us with love.  He looks and reaches out to each one with the same heart of love pouring out grace in abundance; grace that is there to lead mankind to Him through His blessed mother Mary. He calls mankind to welcome the embrace of His mother’s comforting love and to unite in love with her and St. Joseph so that our hearts beat as one as we come to Him.  He breathes out His Holy Spirit to draw all people into pure and holy lives as part of the Holy Family of God so that we can be close to Him and live joyfully in His love as we were created to do.

Once again this Christmas, God offers Himself to us as a gift of love in the giving of Himself in humility.  We should not be blind to what is offered and we should also help others to understand the great gift of love that God bestowed on mankind.  Not because it makes Him any greater but because it can make each one of us greater when we accept what is offered and truly become the Holy Family of God.

May you all have a blessed Christmas and a joyful New Year in Christ, Our Lord.

Alan Ames