Christmas 2015

It’s a great reflection to take a moment or two today to just sit and relax. Perhaps we could do that in front of the Manger Scene or in front of the Christmas tree and just REMEMBER. Remember the traditions and the people who were a part of these traditions down through the years. Let them pass in front of our eyes. Let the Spirit bring these images and loved ones to us. And express our gratitude for these love events and love people who have taught us, formed us, loved us and journeyed with us. Sacred Space 2016 shares these insights: “The Light of the World has come among us. He is born in the night with His own star blazing above Him. He lies in the dimness of a stable, that same Lord who, as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night, led the Israelites to freedom. He has come to bring His people from darkness into light. As we gaze into the manger, at the tiny creature who is given to us as a light to the nations, we can only whisper, ‘Come, let us adore Him.” “Now that Jesus has arrived, I have a whole new meaning to my life. I am becoming a daughter or son of God! I have been adopted into God’s own family. I am important to God! I can now feel happy about myself, no matter what difficulties may be in my life. Everyone else is important, too, so I ask to have great reverence from now on, for myself and for those around me.” So I pray… … perhaps these favorite prayers from Mother Teresa, A Simple Path may help. She states: “The prayers below are favorites of mine. I send them out to our co-workers, to volunteers, and give them to people who visit, to guide and help them as they serve others.” “Dear Lord, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of You. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only You, O Lord! Stay with me, and then I shall begin to shine as You shine; so to shine as to be a light to others. The light O Lord will be all from You; none of it will be mine; It will be You, shining on others through me. Let me thus praise You in the way You love best, by shining on those around me. Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by my example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You” John Henry Cardinal Newman “Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow men throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them, through our hands, this day their daily bread; and by our understanding love, give peace and joy.” Pope Paul VI