Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be there on the first ever Christmas day? 

Place yourself in Bethlehem on that holy day. The baby Jesus is lying in the manger, with Mary and Joseph around him. Who will you imagine yourself as? Will you imagine yourself as one of the shepherds? Or maybe you want to be one of the Wise Men who has followed the star across the face of the earth just to have a few short moments with Jesus. 

There is a peace and a joy that are unattainable through the things of this world, and we find it here with Mary, Joseph, and the child Jesus. Time stands still. Have we been here for moments or for hours? Jesus is only a baby now, but how can being in his presence not change us? 

As we leave, it strikes us. The world is a mess: war, poverty, corruption, greed, selfishness, violence, abuse, and injustice. The face of evil torments ordinary people every day. And God

chose to put himself in the middle of our mess.

There are so many times when we try to avoid other people’s messes. We judge: “It’s your mess. You made it; you should clean it up.” We justify: “People have to learn . . .” God’s

attitude is the complete opposite. He places himself right in the middle of our mess as the solution to it. We don’t deserve it. We have no claim to it. God gives us a new beginning, a

fresh start, freely and without merit.

Jesus wants to enter right into the middle of your mess this Christmas. He wants to give you a new beginning. He wants to encounter you like never before.

There is a wonderful joy that comes from discovering something (or someone) for the first time. There is also an immense joy that comes from re-discovering something (or someone). It’s time to rediscover Jesus—not just for our own sake, but for our children and their children, for the sake of our local church communities, for society at large, and for all humanity.

At every level in society, from the beggar on the street to the leaders of nations, we are all looking for something to solve the crisis of our lives and of our times.

It is time to stop looking for something and start looking to someone—Jesus of Nazareth. 

For more than two thousand years he has been performing miracles in the lives of ordinary men and women. Now he wants to perform miracles in you and through you.

Are you ready?



Feast Day: December 25 (Christmas Day)

Feast Day Shared By: Blessed Jacopone da Todi, Blessed Maria Therese von Wüllenweber, and Saint Peter Nolasco

Symbols: Crucifix, Cross, The Chi Rho, Child in a Manger

Also Known As: Prince of Peace, Lamb of God, Immanuel, Messiah, Savior, Lord, Redeemer, Son of God