The word that jumps off the page at me in today's reading is haste. We saw it before in Mary's heading off to serve Elizabeth with all haste. And now we see it again with the shepherds heading for Bethlehem. "They went with haste," the Scriptures tell us. This holy urgency is something we could all use a little more of. We find it easy to be in a hurry for the things of this world, for pleasures, for trivialities. But we drag our feet when it comes to the things that matter most. What is God inviting you to pursue with holy urgency this Christmas season?

The idea that struck me in the reading today was that of angels. The angels play a crucial role throughout the history of salvation, and we see them appearing in many of the crucial events throughout the Old and the New Testament. As a child, I was taught to pray to my guardian angel each and every morning. A simple prayer, one I suspect many of us were taught. I still find myself calling on the angels at different times. Their power is extraordinary, and I can use all the help I can get sometimes.

When was the last time you prayed to your guardian angel? What role do you invite the angels to play in your life? Do you ask them to help and protect you? Do you ask them to guide and protect your children when you send them off for the day?

And the phrase that never ceases to inspire me here is, "Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart." We spoke about this a few days ago. What blessings has God bestowed on you that you delight in pondering? It could be something that happened last week. It could be something that happened 40 years ago. But it is important to ponder these things in the quiet of our hearts.

There is so little privacy in the world today, but our hearts remain a private place where we can commune with God and self, a place where we can establish a peace so that we can take that peace out into the world, and as St. Francis of Assisi eloquently prayed, become instruments of God's peace in the world.

And today's virtue? Obedience. What does it mean? To do as you're told? Well, sort of. But that is the very least it means. And it depends on who is doing the telling, I suppose. But the word obedience is drawn from the Latin word, which means to listen deeply. To listen deeply.

This Christmas season, may we all be blessed with a new desire to listen deeply to the voice of God in our lives. May we all be blessed with the grace and the courage to follow wherever God leads. The gospel of Jesus Christ is as radical and relevant today as ever before. So go out into the world today and astonish people with your goodness. And remember, don't just be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be.