Are you ready?

Christmas is here. Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

What are your favorite Christmas memories? I remember as a kid when we were very little, wake up very, very early, and we'd sit on the top two steps, all of us. My brothers and I, in my parents' bedroom was just there, 15 feet from the top step. And we'd have this election of sorts to decide who would go and wake my father up. He slept closest to the door. And some poor soul would be elected and creep along the hallway and give my dad a bit of a nudge. And, "Is it time to get up yet, dad?" And he'd be like, "Go back to bed." or if you'd be-- 4:30 in the morning. And every 20 minutes or so, a new election would take place and a new representative would be sent down. Eventually, by 6 o'clock, my dad is, he's awake, right, because he keeps getting woken up. So then we'd get up, we'd go down, we'd open the presents is one of my favorite memories. As a teenager we always used to go to Midnight Mass. And that was a great memory. And then here in Cincinnati, for 20 years, going to the late service, 10 o'clock at night, at a Franciscan friary, and this friar singing the song O Holy Night which is my favorite. Christmas Carol, hymn song. And I thought we'd just reflect on that for a minute, because we get familiar with these words, but then we can forget to reflect on them sometimes. And there's a few that stand out for me. Oh, holy night, the stars are brightly shining. Christmas is about light. And there is darkness in our lives, and there is darkness in our world, and it is heavy, and it does drag us down. And it's important to recognise that. Long later world in sin and error pining. Yes, and we continue to, not just the world, but ourselves as individuals. What is our sin? What is our error? What is our darkness? Because the light of Christ comes at Christmas to shine light on that, but also to save us from that. And then there's this line, "till he appeared, Jesus appeared, and the soul felt its worth." There's value, there's worth, there's meaning. But do we understand the value? Do we understand the worth? What would it mean for your soul to feel its worth? What would that mean? What would that look like? And then this line, a thrill of hope. Think about that for a while, right? A thrill of hope. Allow that thrill of hope to rush through you. I think children experience it effortlessly, right? Thrill of hope. And then I love this next part of the line, "The weary world rejoices." The weary world rejoices. And our weary souls can rejoice. How weary lives can rejoice. Our weary families can rejoice. And then there's this line, "Full on your knees. Oh, hear the angel's voices." When's the last time other than in church? When's the last time you got down on your knees beside your bed? Before you went to sleep and prayed. I don't do it every night, but I do do it sometimes. I think it is, there's something about it that is powerful. It's humbling. It puts us in the right relationship with God. And if you haven't done it in a while, I encourage you to fall on your knees or hear the angel's voices. Hear the angel's voices. Christmas, as we've arrived here, we've come through this advent season, and throughout Advent, we hear about angels a lot. We hear about angels appearing to people and talking to people. We're going to hear some more about angels appearing to Joseph and guiding Joseph. So there are these very powerful mystical beings that God calls angels. And are we aware of them? Are we mindful of the [inaudible]. We're moving through our lives. Hear the angel's voices. What would have to happen for you to hear the angel's voices or even what would have to happen for you to hear your angel's voices, your angel's voice? What would have to happen for you to hear your guardian angel's voice? Speak into your life, speak into your soul. Speak into your heart. We'd have to get quiet, right? We'd have to be mindful. We'd have to listen. We'd have to pay attention to our guardian angel.

Oh, holy night. Truly, He taught us to love one another. He's trying to teach us. He's trying to teach us. He keeps teaching us to love one another. Sometimes we're listening. Sometimes we're slow learners. Sometimes we're resistant. Sometimes we're just plain selfish, right? And he continues to teach us to love one another. His glory is love. His gospel is peace. In his name, all oppression shall cease. What does that look like? And what can we do about it? What is the oppression of your life? What is the oppression of your soul? For the most part, the oppression of my soul is bad habits. And it's a profound call in Christmas to take another look at that, to live our lives differently. Sweet hymns of joy and grateful chorus. And I think that's what I feel most at Christmas. It's that gratitude, just that overwhelming gratitude. Because knowing all of this, God still showers us with His grace, with His love, with His peace, with His joy if we would just be still and allow Him to work in our souls. We just be still, just be quiet, and allow Him to work in our souls. Our souls, our hearts, our minds will erupt with incredible gratitude. So, Merry Christmas. On behalf of Maggie, myself, the kids, and on behalf of everyone here at Dynamic Catholic, thank you for your love and support this year. We hope you have an incredible Christmas surrounded by those you love. And for those we love who are far away, we pray in a special way that God will shower His grace on them. Merry Christmas.

Oh, holy night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of the dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices. For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn'. Fall on your knees. Oh, hear the angel voices. Oh night divine. Oh night when Christ was born. Oh night divine. Oh night, oh night divine.

Truly, He taught us to love one another. His law is love, and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother. And in His name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy, in grateful chorus raise. We let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord. Oh praise His name forever. His power and glory, evermore proclaim. His power and glory, evermore proclaim.