I wish everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2013. We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas, the beginning of the history of our redemption. Since time immemorial, God had promised through the lips of prophets that he would send us Emmanuel, born of a Virgin. In him, our salvation would be guaranteed. That promise reaches its realization at Christmas when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary.
It is very easy to answer the question, "What do we celebrate at Christmas?" at a very peripheral level. True, we celebrate the birth of Christ, but much more, the incarnation - God becoming man. We also celebrate, in anticipation, the Second Coming of Christ. The first coming, that is, his birth, already took place, but we await the second coming with eager expectation, when Christ will appear in his glory to judge mercifully, and save all those who have answered his call faithfully.
Since we await Christ's coming, we celebrate now, in commemoration, his birth which already took place. This celebration expresses our faith, our love, our unity and solidarity with God's people all over the world. We come together as families and friends to share our peace and joy which Christ brings. Through the exchange of gifts, we commemorate Christ who gave himself for us all, by shedding his own blood on the Cross for our salvation. Christ's gift to us is the gift of himself that brings peace and joy.
In order to receive Christ in our hearts, we need to be a peaceful people ourselves. Christ is our peace. Let us have peace so that we can be able to give peace to others. But how can we give peace to to others when, first, we are not at peace with ourselves? Second, we are not at peace in our homes? We must always find reason to forgive and accept apology in order to have peace. May this Christmas period be a fruitful one for all of us as we seek to be a peaceful people.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
I wish everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2013. We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas, the beginning of the history of our redemption. Since time immemorial, God had promised through the lips of prophets that he would send us Emmanuel, born of a Virgin. In him, our salvation would be guaranteed. That promise reaches its realization at Christmas when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary.
It is very easy to answer the question, "What do we celebrate at Christmas?" at a very peripheral level. True, we celebrate the birth of Christ, but much more, the incarnation - God becoming man. We also celebrate, in anticipation, the Second Coming of Christ. The first coming, that is, his birth, already took place, but we await the second coming with eager expectation, when Christ will appear in his glory to judge mercifully, and save all those who have answered his call faithfully.
Since we await Christ's coming, we celebrate now, in commemoration, his birth which already took place. This celebration expresses our faith, our love, our unity and solidarity with God's people all over the world. We come together as families and friends to share our peace and joy which Christ brings. Through the exchange of gifts, we commemorate Christ who gave himself for us all, by shedding his own blood on the Cross for our salvation. Christ's gift to us is the gift of himself that brings peace and joy.
In order to receive Christ in our hearts, we need to be a peaceful people ourselves. Christ is our peace. Let us have peace so that we can be able to give peace to others. But how can we give peace to others when, first, we are not at peace with ourselves? Second, we are not at peace in our homes? We must always find reason to forgive and accept apology in order to have peace. May this Christmas period be a fruitful one for all of us as we seek to be a peaceful people.
It is very easy to answer the question, "What do we celebrate at Christmas?" at a very peripheral level. True, we celebrate the birth of Christ, but much more, the incarnation - God becoming man. We also celebrate, in anticipation, the Second Coming of Christ. The first coming, that is, his birth, already took place, but we await the second coming with eager expectation, when Christ will appear in his glory to judge mercifully, and save all those who have answered his call faithfully.
Since we await Christ's coming, we celebrate now, in commemoration, his birth which already took place. This celebration expresses our faith, our love, our unity and solidarity with God's people all over the world. We come together as families and friends to share our peace and joy which Christ brings. Through the exchange of gifts, we commemorate Christ who gave himself for us all, by shedding his own blood on the Cross for our salvation. Christ's gift to us is the gift of himself that brings peace and joy.
In order to receive Christ in our hearts, we need to be a peaceful people ourselves. Christ is our peace. Let us have peace so that we can be able to give peace to others. But how can we give peace to others when, first, we are not at peace with ourselves? Second, we are not at peace in our homes? We must always find reason to forgive and accept apology in order to have peace. May this Christmas period be a fruitful one for all of us as we seek to be a peaceful people.
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