We've already received the greatest gift we'll ever be given.
Isn't that crazy to think about?
Nothing else can compare to this gift, ever! Not even the gift of a spouse. Not even the gift of a child. Not even the gift of a religious vocation. Those gifts are incredibly beautiful, but they look grayscale compared to the full-color vibrancy of the gift of salvation.
Our Savior was born. God became flesh and dwelt among us. Our Creator wants to spend eternity with us, and gave us a way to do that despite the numerous times we've rejected him.
And the incomprehensibly beautiful thing is, he did this for all of us. He came into the world for Mary, Zachariah, Joseph, and Elizabeth—all righteous and God-fearing people. But he also came for Herod, for Judas, for the Pharisees, for Saul, and for Pontius Pilot. He came for the poor and the rich, the geniuses and the comatose, and everyone in between.
How will you respond to this gift?
God offers all of us this gift. But we all have the ability to reject it by the way we live our lives.
The saints are people who chose to accept the gift, and we can look to them for tips on how to accept it too. They lived vastly different and unique lives, with different personalities, temperaments, gifts, in different environments, times and places. But, they all lived for Jesus fully. They all tried to give every aspect of their life to him.
Regardless of the curveballs life threw them, and sometimes because of those curveballs, the saints kept getting back up and moving towards God.
What can we do to be like them?
1.Let's read the Gospels over and over again to get to know our Savior better.
2. Let's take seriously the call to live like Jesus asks us to live—generously, humbly, and attached to God while detached from the world.
3. Let's take advantage of all the graces He gives to us through the Catholic Church, the church He established—using the sacraments, sacramentals, church documents, lives of the saints, and resources at our parishes.
God sent us his Son out of love.
Zechariah used the phrase "the tender compassion of our God" in his canticle of praise after his son John the Baptist was born.
What a phrase!
"In the tender compassion of our God
Luke 1:78-79
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace."
God, in his tender compassion, sent his Son to the world to open Heaven to us.
Let's respond to that gift with our lives.
Merry Christmas!
