Like every Christmas, God says that we don't need to be afraid: he hasn't given up on us. That's why he wasn't born in a marble palace and laid in a crib lined with silk and velvet. That's why he chose to be born in a smelly, damp cave near Bethlehem, a cave full of mouldy straw that shepherds used as a stable for their dirty sheep during storms.

Maybe our souls are like that cave, and we don't really believe that God's love can get in there. But Christmas proves that it can. He wants to come into the smelly, dark cave of our hearts and fill it with the light, joy, and peace that will come from convincing us that he hasn't given up on us. And he wants to come not as a mighty warrior but as a little baby because he wants us to hold him in our arms, adopt him, and make him the companion of our lives. This is the Good News that makes Christmas different.

I wish you a truly blessed Christmas. 

Fr. GREGORY OGORZALEK

Pastor and Chaplain