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     If you are a baseball fan, you know that this is the time of year that Baseball teans go to Florida or  Arizona to get ready for the 162 game season. They work on the basics and fundamentals of the game so that they will be prepared for the long season ahead.

     Lent is in an analogous way spring trainig for the soul. We are not in a season, but in life and the world is busy working on us and pulling us in different directions and we need to start over with the basics once a year to be better prepared to carry on with our lives. The Church tells us that the basics are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I have found in my experience that all three of these need further explanation. Today I will talk about prayer.

      We are told to pray, but have we ever been taught. many of us endured the catechetical and doctrinal dark ages of the 1970′s and 80′s and have been formed or malformed on how to pray. I bleieve that the basics of prayer consist of three parts: recollection, thanksgiving and petition.

    Recollection is the practice of quieting oneself down so that we are silent enough to hear God’s voice and receive his love. It appears that silence is a very uncomfortable thing for many people. It takes practice. We have to build up a tolerance for silence, sad to say. But once we are silent, we can begin to sense the stirring of our hearts and recognize our life with God.

    From recollection one moves to gratitude, because we are able to see the gifts we have and the abilities and opportunities that have been presented that we did not deserve, but have been freely given to use. It is a recognition of our spiritual wealth.

     In gratitudue we also see that we cannot do things without the help and intercession of others, so we can then petition or request from God the neccesary things to serve him well in this life and grow in the love of him and the love and service of our neighbor.

     These are the three basics. Once we have mastered these, then we can move on to more advanced ways of prayer that have their starting point in deeper silence. But let us first work on becoming silent and grateful and aware of our needs. We have to crawl before we can walk.

Tonight I spent most of the evening taping a 45 minute CD on the Eucharist and Sanity that I hope to copy and give away at different parishes over Lent. I believe with all my heart that the most sane and most human thing we can ever do is celebrate the Holy Eucharist. People are looking everywhere for answers to their chaotic lives and many avoid the obvious, the Mass. That is the pureness of sanity and reality because we do what comes from our true human nature, as revealed to us by Jesus Christ. In the CD I say that The Mass restores our sanity in three ways: It makes us remember who we are: sinners who are raised to the dignity of Children of God by the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also “RE-MEMBERS” us in the sense that as life continually tries to pull us apart, the Eucharist reassembles us and cleanses us and heals us and makes us who we were truly created to be: saints. It also calls to mind the necessity of sacrifice, the Sacrifice of Christ and our sharing in that sacrifice by lifting up our sin-filled wounded and broken hearts to the Lord that he can restore us to sanity again. Lastly, I speak of the effects of the Eucharist as giving us silence, clarity, strength, courage and confidence that God will not allow is to be destroyed but to be renewed. The Mass is not an opportunity for entertainment or distraction, but rather it is the fullest encounter of the reality of God’s love and presence this side of heaven. I hope the feeble attempt at expressing this great mystery may let someone who is wallowing in the insanity of this life return to Christ and the Eucharist and find the joy that God wants him or to her have.

The Franciscan Jacopone daTodi whom some believe authored the Lenten hymn Stabat Mater wrote that “Love is nailed to the cross and he will not come down.” That has lead some to say that it was not nails that fixed Christ to the cross, but his love for us. During his passion Satan used the people mocking him to tempt him “Come down from that cross and then we will believe you. However, Jesus proved his divinity by staying on the cross. As Catholics, the crucifix takes on particular significance. The crucifix is a more powerful image for us over a cross because it reminds us of a statement that Blaise Pascal once made, “Christ is on the cross as long as there is suffering in the world.” No one suffers alone.

I think one can also say that Christ is on the cross as long as there is someone who is still feels unloved in this world or rejected or persecuted. This is important to keep in mind in light of the Gospel passage from we heard at Mass. Take up your cross daily and follow me. To take up the cross means to bear ones own burdens as well as the burdens of others and to do that we must love. We cannot sustain this out of sympathy or guilt, only love. Love truly is our greatest cross, and the more we love the greater the cross becomes, but the mystery lies in the reality that the burden becomes lighter because we realize that we are only to bear our own crosses and those of others because Christ is bearing them with us.

Everyday provides us with a new lesson in love to learn, a new test in how much we love, and a realization that our love for God or other will never be full in this life. That thought ought not make us despair or become neurotic. It ought to inspire to seek new ways to express that love through prayer, acts of generosity and reparation. St. Teresa of Avila reminds us in her autobiography that we will ultimately be judged on not how much we knew or how much we believed, but rather how much we loved. Maybe that can become for us a daily measure of whether we have grown closer to or farther away from God. The Crosses that life gives us always presents more opportunities for holiness. Lets not pass them up, but hold on to them, realizing that Jesus is holding onto them with us.

We begin another season of Lent today. It is an annual examination we take to see how far we have progressed in our relationship with God and how far we still have to go. I have wondered why we start Lent in the middle of the week rather than on a Sunday. I believe the reason is that it allows us to transition into a penitential life slowly and gradually.We human beings do not like quick changes and we are more likely to stick with things if we kind of ease into it rather than abruptly begin them.

Lent is more like a walk than a run, or a marathon rather than a sprint. We did not get where we are over night and I think it would be foolish to think we can change overnight.In these transition days, I would encourage people to look at their Lenten penances both in terms of what they give up and what they take on. If we have drastic goals, the odds are that we are not going to make the distance, much less the weekend or even tomorrow.These days can allow us to test things out so that by Sunday as we hear the story of the Temptations of Jesus, we can be better equipped to deal with the changes we are trying to implement in order to be more fully alive to the action and grace of God.

I am finishing up taping my 4 CD Lenten talks entitled “Christ or Chaos: How life in Christ helps us overcome the Chaos in our lives.”Most of us are living chaotic lives and we may think it is normal- something that is just part of being in the post-modern world. I think that this is a lie. A chaotic life is simply a life in which God is in the back seat, (or maybe even in the trunk) and we are trying to drive by ourselves to a destination that we can never reach on our own. That approach to life makes us angry, frustrated, fearful and very tired. Christ gives us the better way. He gives us the truly human way. It is the way of Love, but the cross there and we can not avoid it or drown it our with all the distractions we make for ourselves.

My advice for the end of this first day if Lent is look at what you have decided to do to help you love God more and get prepared for the great feast of Easter. See if your penances are going to work out. Don’t give up on changing something this season or give into the easy way. Go through the chaos you are dealing with and you will come out on the other side with a better view of yourself and God, and how much he wants to you really find and experience joy.

     As we prepare to celebrate the coming of God as man, I have the hope that this may help you be prepared in your heart for such a gift from God:

 Homily Text:

     People like to search for things. When we were growing up, we played hide and go seek. then, as we got older, many went in search of the perfect person to marry and the perfect job. Now, many of us today are looking at ads for the perfect deal. This time of year, many of us go in search of the perfect gift. It is quite a challenge especially when looking for something for someone who appear to have everything.

     So we start to investigate the person to whom we want to give the perfect gift: what does he or she talk about? What are they looking at? What do they seem to be needing all the time? We want this gift to be something that they will cherish, use and make their life better. Hopefully, whenever they use this gift, they will think of us with love. That seems to be a pretty tall order!

     It used to be easy when we were little. we could make something for mom and dad out of popsicle sticks , or a coffee mug out of clay that we would paint especially for them. It might even be a hand made ornament. As we get older and look for a gift for that special person in our life, it may be a gagdet if he were a man, or gold or diamond jewelry if she were a woman. the gif is mean to express somehting very personal: the love in our heart for them.

     On this Christmas Day, we really do receive the perfect gift. God has planned and planned ever since we left the Garden of Eden and he had to ask Adam and Eve: Where are you? He told us all through the Bible he was sending us something special, but he had to find the right time to give it. Good gift giving also requires the element of surprise. We don’t often want the recipient to see it coming, so it can take their breath away.

     God has promised to send the answer to the deepest needs of our heart, but what is it going to be? Today we find out: It is his Son Jesus! It does come as a bit of a suprise to many. Our Savior God is born in a stable, not a castle. God takes on or human natre and is wrapped in swaddling clothes with only the hay, the animals and the love of his Mother Mary and St. Joseph to keep him warm. The Eternal Word of God through whom all things were created comes to us as a vulnerable, weak little baby in need of everything.

     But why is Jesus the perfect gift? Babies are, after all, very demanding. they need to be fed, changed, washed and entertained. Couldn’t God have given us something a little more low maintenance?

     No. God knows EXACTLY what he is doing. He made us after all and he knows that what really makes us tick is LOVE. We are created by God out of the fullness of his perfect and mysterious divine love to give and receive love, and so he comes aong us as one who needs the very best we can give, and that BEST is LOVE. We are at our most human when we love selflessly, generously and totally.

     when we can tend to forget that becuase we live in a world that often speaks more about taking and possessing than giving and receiving. We fell the heaviness of life and we may even have difficult burdens to carry. We can feel empty, incomplete, loneley and even unloved at times. We forget the God who loves us and the GIFT he has given to us, his own Son, his own Heart, his own Life. God has become man to lighten our burdens and get us to smile. God shows us in his Son Jesus his beautiful love for us and his desire not only to fill us with joy, but to be our lasting joy.

     Jesus Christ is truly the perfect Gift from God the Father for the whole human race. He has come from the heart of the Father. He expresses the Father’s deepest love for us. Jesus blew the budget in giving us the Gifts of his Word in the Gospel and his own Body and blood in the Holy Eucharist. He not only tells us what we are worth, he SHOWS us what we are worth when we see him on the cross. He shows us that WE ARE PRICELESS! He knows that what we need most of all is his love and his constant presence in our lives.

     May we show our thanks to God for the Gift of his Son through our daily prayers of gratitude and petition, through love and generosity to our neighbor, and through a renewed committment to serve him in love.

     Jesus Christ is our Perfect Gift. One size fits all. One love embraces all. One Peace fills all.

            Today we have the answer to the question that many people ask: Why do we need faith? Why is it so hard to live in the world without it? Why is it that faith in the Resurrected Jesus Christ is the only real answer?           

         Why do we need faith? Because the world is much bigger than we are. We encounter mysteries and joys and sorrows and challenges every day. We keep trying to make sense of it all though it does not seem to fit together.           

          The truth of our human life is that we need faith to truly live. We have come to discover that behind this big, mysterious world there is a God who loves us into being. To love something is to give it life. God loves us, so we live. We live in his heart. We live in this world. We have been given tremendous opportunities to share in life and thus make it known to others. Faith in God, by its very nature makes us witnesses to life, goodness, beauty and truth.           

          We see things as they really are. We see ourselves as we really are. We see God for who He truly is. We see creation as a gift given to us to enjoy and protect. We see ourselves as sinners, broken and unable to find lasting joy without the intervention of God in our lives. Lastly, we see God as real, true and visible in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is raised form the dead. This is as real as it gets.         

            If faith gives us life, why is faith so difficult at times? Faith is not something like a beating heart. Faith is not something that works in us without our awareness. To have faith means to be consciously aware that we are not alone. Faith is not just about me. It is about a total surrender of all that we are to a God who loves us. Jesus makes that very clear in his preaching. God loves his people and seeks to be intimately involved in the lives of his people every day. In Jesus Christ, we see that the Father has sent his Son who is so close to us that he truly experiences our deepest fear, death. By the power of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, we recognize that Jesus is truly and physically raised today.           

          Many in our world, which is broken and devastated by sin, tell us that Jesus Christ is not life. He is an illusion or quaint legend or even a fairy tale. Jesus is in the past. He is not real now. They want us to accept that real life is power, money, sex, pleasure or celebrity. It is about my enjoyment. We must compromise and accept these things if we want to get along on the world.           

          In faith, we know this to be a bold-faced lie! Jesus Christ is alive. He is real and present to us right now. We see his love in our friends, our families, and even strangers. We see his personal love present especially in his Church, through the preaching of the Word of God and most importantly in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, the Holy  Eucharist.                

         The Risen Lord answers our prayers. He reaches out to us in love through the Holy Spirit. He suffered for us so that we could know peace. He died for us so that we could really live and love. He holds us in life as the most cherished possessions of his Sacred Heart.          

           The Church is full of life this morning with the beautiful flowers and the lush plants, the bright colors, Easter bonnets and children who cannot wait to get home and get some Easter candy. But all of these pale in front of the real LIVING ONE we see and hear and will soon touch and taste, Jesus Christ.            

          We are a people of life because we are a people who belong to Jesus Christ and live through him. We are a people who know deep in our hearts, that the Baptism we have received has brought us to life. We come as the Church to stand as witnesses to one another to the love and life given to us by God to share. As we receive that living bred of our Resurrected Lord,  let us go forth as the Apostles, living witnesses with a living faith in our Risen Lord. Alleluia.

Easter Vigil                                                                                  

           If there is one word that we could use to sum up the celebration tonight, the word would be LIFE. It is life that makes all things possible. In death, possibilities stop. We know that death for us can bring darkness, fear and despair. There is nothing to look forward to.  Everything we are doing tonight speaks of LIFE. Blessing the Easter fire, we recognize the gift that fire is which makes life possible. Fire purifies, warms and brightens. It is that light which we carried into Church tonight. It is that light which has illumines for us the beautiful flowers and vestments. It makes it possible for us to sing hymns that bring beauty into the air. When Christ died, the world became dark, but tonight, with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the world is flooded with life and light.                

          In the readings from Sacred Scripture, we hear that God speaks and things happen. Every word from God is a blessing, not a curse. Every Word of God brings LIFE. We believe that the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, who died on Good Friday is now alive. HE is real, true, living, loving and saving. We do not say that Jesus was, rather we affirm with faith that Jesus IS ALIVE.              

           We human beings are by nature seekers. We do not look for ends, but beginnings; we do not want to give up, but try again. We do not seek death, we seek life. Several men and women here tonight have growing on knowing and living their faith in Jesus Christ. It is true that we are mortals and that we will suffer. It is true that our lives will have crosses and it will seem unfair at times. We can never deny the cross, but we come in faith to fully proclaim that if we face our crosses with courage and are led with the love that God desires to pour into our hearts through prayer, we will truly live.                  

          Dear Elect and Candidates, the life which you enter into tonight through the living waters of baptism and your profession of faith offer you more hope than you can ever imagine. Jesus Christ conquered sin and death through the power of his self-giving love on the cross. He held nothing back for us so that we will know that we do not have to hold anything back from him. When we give everything to him, then we receive graces beyond measure. The light of faith which is consecrated in Baptism produces in us the courage to hope and ultimately leads to the fire of love present in the Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Life.                      Jesus Christ still teaches us today that life is about living. It is about being present ad paying attention to the presence of God in the world and in the hearts of each other. That is why the two men at the tomb asked the women that question: Why do you seek the living among the dead?             The resurrected and glorified life that Christ offers us is too much for the world to handle or even imagine. That is why much of the world today does not believe in Christ or his resurrection. Tonight, we celebrate in faith that the Resurrection is not only possible, it is historically and  truly real. It is all that we have and it is truly all that we need.                      I congratulate all of you who are entering this new life in Christ tonight and I give thanks to God for his goodness that still moves in the world. As our Risen Lord once said, “You have chosen the better part and you will not be denied it.” You have chosen Jesus Christ, who is life. May the Lord who has begun this good work in you bring it to completion in the joy of Heaven.

Good Friday                                                                                                        

            One of the more popular television shows is the series “CSI.” It is about investigating crimes to determine the culprits and the motives. The investigators look at all the evidence, and then beneath the surface of things to discover the truth. One of the things that makes the series so popular are the many mysterious twists and turns the investigations take before the truth is found. 

            What would happen is the CSI detectives and forensic experts showed up on Calvary that Good Friday? At first glance, there is no crime. It is an open and shut case. Jesus of Nazareth was accused and found guilty of claiming to be God and making himself king. This execution was carried out by the Romans at the requests of the Jewish authorities and the mob gathered around the so-called trial. But is that the whole truth? Does it all add up? If someone were a thorough investigator, he or she would soon discover that there is more there than what meets the eye.         

        When the records are examined, it is true that Jesus does not defend himself against the charges. He does not appear bitter or defensive. He does not blame anyone else. He simply speaks the simple truth. It is this: God has sent his Son into the world to show his love for it and for his desire that the world be healed from all that afflicts it, namely sin, hatred, division and death. Jesus is a witness to this by what he says and does. There are no ulterior motives or secret conspiracies. There is no fomenting of political revolution. He has come to bring an abundant life to a world devastated by sin and death.

             When the people demanded justice, Jesus preached mercy. When some people demanded special treatment, he treated all people, rich and poor alike with respect and dignity. When the people thought they knew all they needed to know about God, He came to reveal the truth about a loving God. The angrier they became, the more he loved; the more they attacked, the more he forgave; the more they shouted, the quieter he became.          

       While it appears that the physical cause of Jesus’ death was crucifixion and asphyxiation, deeper investigation reveals that the real cause was love. Jesus came to show us that the only true answer to the mystery of suffering and death is love. It came to be that the only way he could teach this to people was to die out of love for the people to whom he was sent, the entire human race.    

          The death of Jesus was not something to done to please God the Father or settle the score for human sin. The Father says time and time again that “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Father loves the Son deeply.          

          The death of Christ was for us and by us. We are ultimately responsible for Calvary. When we face suffering, our first response is often to lash out, seek vengeance and cause pain to others. Some of us may even believe the statement, “If I am unhappy, then EVERYONE is going to be unhappy!” That response never works. It never brings peace and in the end it will destroy us.            

           On this Good Friday, the Son of God is who became man, has seen the suffering with his own eyes, the woman caught in adultery, the death of his friend Lazarus, the crippled man at the pool of Bethsaida. He heard with his own ears the human shouts, “Son of David have pity on me!”             If one were to ask Jesus what he would do about this, he would not speak in word but in action. His answer is to suffer in love for us. It was our anger over our sins and suffering that drove us to nail him to the cross. Jesus responded not just by suffering for them and with them, but to love them until his final breath. That Spirit he gave up on Calvary is destined to descend upon usso that we too may follow his example. The answer to evil is love- a self-emptying, agonizing, life-giving love.           

            The evidence of this is our faith and the faith of all who have come before us, down to Mary and John and the other women at the foot of the cross. We cannot escape the cross. All our anger, indignation, shouting and violence will not lighten our burden one bit. It will only increase it.             The cross shows us the true divinity of Christ. Only God will suffer innocently unto death for the guilty. Only God would patiently endure injustice to show his mercy. Only God can destroy hatred by love.         

              Jesus has given us the true path and if we honestly investigate the case, the evidence is overwhelming. St. Paul said it clearly: Jesus died for sinners, you and me because he loved us and desired everlasting life for us. We must die to ourselves, not simply because we are guilty or because it is a matter of justice. We must do it because we love God before all else and we recognize him alone as the true path to life and freedom in this world and the next. Case Closed.

     Tonight, St. John tells us that the hour had come for Jesus to pass from this world to the Father. For many of us, an hour is simply a period of time, 60 minutes. We sually tend to think in days or weeks or even years, but John tells us that everything hinges on the Hour of Jesus. Jesus’ Hour is the moment for us and for him is the moment of truth. Jesus’ hour is the moment in which God in Jesus Christ opens himself to the world even more fully to receive it, transform it and then return it full of his divine life. It is an hour of anguish, love, suffering and glory. It is an hour of communion.

     Jesus teaches us that God at the very center of his love is unconditional Love that serves his people. He knows us before we are born. HE has given us every goft to help us live joyfully with him in this life and the next. We have chosen at times to reject this lasting love and service and focus on ourselves. We tend to believe in self-service, serving only ourselves and our wants and desires. We have cut ourselves off from God and have changed the garden of our souls into a desert. We can find our souls to be dry, dusty lands with no hope of a gentle rain to relive them.

     As a God who serves, the Father looks into our hearts and sees our doubts, anxieties and fears. He hears our cries for help and chooses to do something about it. He sends his only Son, Jesus Christ, to show us how to serve in love. St. John shows us that first Jesus us IN his body. He washes us, cleanses us making us beautiful and pleasing to the Father and worthy to come into the Father’s presence. Before he will bow his head in death on the cross, tonight God bows down humbly and wrpas a towel around his waist to serve us. He offers us consolation, love, hope and peace.

     After Christ has served us, he now serves us HIS VERY SELF. He first refreshes our bodies and now through the gift of His Body and Blood, he is going to revive our souls. The Son of God who once fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish now offers to us his Body and Blood, under the humble appearances of bread and wine, to revive our hearts and bodies. He reveals to us that when we eat his Body and drink his Blood, we receive LIFE itself. This life is not a passing one, but an everlasting one.

     When Jesus speaks those saving words, “This is my Body,” “This is my Blood”, he opens up his heart to a world devastated by the famine of sin, death and despair. He has lived our abandonment and isolation. He knows our true hunger and thirst and it is in THIS HOUR that he does something that changes things forever.

     By making this gift of Himself  for the whole world, he makes it spossible for divine grace to flow in our hearts again. God desires that our souls be luscious gardens, places of awesome beauty, where we can walk with the Lordand share our lives with him, free of all the obstacles caused by our sins. For this reason, JESUS’ HOUR has never ceased. The Eucharist restores our spiritual beauty and enables us to show that beauty to those who have know the ravages of pain, ugliness and fear.

     By the institution of the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the salvation of the world is revealed in the world to this day. Jesus hour has not passed. IT IS NOW! His hour continues in the Church when, in the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ chooses men to be united with as unique servants to continue his saving mission. Priests are to feed Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church by both Word and Sacrament. The priests, whose lived are consecrated for selfless love are to teach others how to serve Christ by serving one another.

     Tonight, after the celebration of the Eucharist, we are invited by the Lord to keep watch with him as we await his coming crucifixion and death. St. Luke tells us that Jesus admonished Peter, James and John for not waiting up with him during his Hour. May we spend some quiet time with him tonight and thank him for giving us his Body and Blood to give us real life. Let us ask him to water and enliven our hearts hardened by sin and life’s crosses. Let us allow him to teach us how to better love those around us.

     Finally, let us remember that the Hour of Christ, which we relive tonight, lasts a lot longer than 60 minutes. It lasts a lifetime and will ultimately lead us to everlasting life with Jesus in paradise.

             The great feast of the Birth of our Lord is a day for joy, happiness and remembering. There is one part of Christmas however, that is not very fun, and that is putting together some of the many gifts we receive. The phrase on any package that sends shivers down our spines is “Some assembly required.” That usually means getting out the tool box, finding some batteries and then following the directions. There are some of us, though, who though we found the directions, decide to “eyeball” the whole thing. While sometimes we do get it right, most of the time, we leave out things, put parts together that were not supposed to go together, put things together backwards, or simply get fed up and take a hammer to it, which is never a good thing. Then we finally search out the directions, look at the pictures on the box, or call tech support to finish the project. 

               From the beginning of time, God has known we have trouble following directions. When God created us, there are parts of ourselves that needed to be put together. The assembly included learning right from wrong, good from evil, service from being served. It also included learning how to love God and others, and to be loved by God and others. We were given the plan for everlasting happiness, follow God and do his will. He has given us Moses, the Law and the prophets to help us figure out how to stay close to him and to be happy.              As we see in the Old Testament, the Israelites had trouble following directions and instead chose many times to “eyeball” life rather than listen to God who is life. God the Father saw that we need more than a set of directions or rules to stay close to him, so he sends us his own Son. God has chosen to fulfill his divine plan by sending us someone we could watch, observe, hear and follow. It is going to take more than a set of directions to get us to heaven; it is going to take someone who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus Christ.             Jesus, the Son of God came into this world as a little baby this day, born of his Mother Mary, poor, cold, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger. The presence of a child helps people shape their minds, hearts and actions. Parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles learn selflessness, sacrifice and commitment to help the little persons be as happy as they can be. Children show us the meaning of happiness. One of the great things about babies is their laugh. Their little eyes brighten up and they giggle. That simple little action melts hearts. 

           God has seen enough of human tears, so now he sends us his Son so that he can hear the human race laugh again. Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary to teach us how to laugh, be joyful, forgive, show mercy and compassion again. He does it first by his neediness as a new born child. After Jesus grows in wisdom, age and grace, he will continue to teach us through his preaching of the Kingdom, and he will ultimately show us by his death on the cross and resurrection.     

          Of all the things Jesus gives us this Holy Day, the most important Gift is his love. Life is a school of love and while we have directions such as the Golden Rule, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, what we really need is someone we can model. We need help to learn how to love. And God the Son has become a little child in order to do just that:  by looking to the needs of others before ourselves, by helping the poor, the sick, the elderly, and the isolated. We know that the best gift we can receive from another is not material, but rather a smile, a hug, or even a simple thank you.             

            We often see the infant Jesus in the manger with his arms outstretched, urging us to pick him up, hold him close, kiss him and love him. This simple action has great meaning: if we love Christ and build our lives around him, he will teach us that we are not alone. We need someone to love and someone to love us. God does not just show us how to love, he loves us first! He loves us completely. Why else would his Son take on our human nature. God’s love opens up doors. It does not close them. He loves in us, through us and in that simple action he makes life truly worthwhile. 

           Through the birth of Jesus Christ, God has now shown us love. We can now see in Jesus Christ, God with a human face, a human smile, a human heart. We can feel the embrace of Christ through our daily prayer. We also meet this personal, incarnate love every time we receive his Body and Blood at Mass. Jesus Christ is the best Gift God has ever given to the human race because he gives us himself. He came to us with no assembly required. We do not need to fear him or life itself. All we need to do is love him, follow him, serve him and allow him to truly love us and shape us into the true images of him that he created us to be.