When we think about Christmas, many times we think about snow, Santa, Christmas trees, snowmen, cookies, and of course, gifts. All of these are wonderful images of Christmas celebration. When I visit people, for instance, in my pastoral ministry, I see the beautiful Christmas decorations that they have, and they tell me that they expect to have a white Christmas. I know that usually people associate Christmas with these images, especially with snow.
However, is this enough? Is this the real sense of “holy days?” Do we really know what Christmas is about? Some people have the idea that Christmas is about Jesus, His incarnation, and birth in Bethlehem around two thousand years ago. And this is right, but we need to go beyond this. Christmas is more than remembering the birth of Jesus; it means that it is not only to celebrate His birthday, but to allow Jesus to come into our lives, our hearts, our families, our neighborhoods, our towns, our cities, our country, our planet, and of course, our universe. Christmas is the magical time when you and I recognize that God, who loves us very much, sent His only begotten Son to live like us and save all of us from sin.
“As we contemplate the Christmas story, we are invited to set out on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every man and woman. We come to realize that so great is his love for us that he became one of us, so that we in turn might become one with him,” Pope Francis said on December 6, 2019.
We are very happy to receive the Emmanuel, the Savior in our lives; hence, we want to share this joy with our family, relatives, and friends. Jesus is the most important present that we can receive at Christmas, and at the same time, He is the most important present we can gift in this beautiful time of the year to our brothers and sisters. The best way we can do this is demonstrating our love, kindness, generosity, joy, happiness to our brothers and sisters, people who need to feel God’s love through each one of us. Therefore, let us go to Church and receive the sacraments, especially the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist to prepare ourselves to celebrate this wonderful liturgical season.
Let us eat cookies, turkey, ham, or something delicious. Let us sing Christmas carols. Let us enjoy Christmas with our family and friends. But most important, let us keep Christ in Christmas through our good works and loving our neighbors; in other words, doing what Jesus wants us to do.
I, as the Pastor of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity and in behalf of our staff, wish you Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz Navidad! May the Baby, who was born in Bethlehem, be born again this Christmas in your hearts and homes and be with you always. Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, my brothers and sisters. Enjoy these wonderful Holy Days in the company of your beloved ones and, of course, the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you!
Fr. Jorge Ramírez
