Christmas is a season of joy. One of the strongly-worded liturgical prayers during the season of advent asks the Lord, "to prepare our hearts to receive the Lord" by begging him "to remove all the sadness that hinder us to celebrate the birth of the savior with hope and joy."
We ask ourselves the "why" of our sadness. The prophet Isaiah encourages us to make the path of the Lord straight, and John Baptist inspires us to repent of our sins. This makes a lot of sense. If we have failed in our relationships by hurting someone, or have deliberately done something malicious because of human weakness like pride or jealousy, or if we have sinned in anyway - then we could not enjoy the spirit of Christmas fully. We need to take a courageous step to forgive and to be forgiven.
The Blessed Virgin Mother also teaches us some wisdom. She points out by her spirituality about the greater importance of faith, purity and virtue over materialism, despair and vices. Sometimes we are deceived by the lies that money, external beauty or power could bring us true happiness. The life of the spirit, simplicity and humility are those that often lead us, however, to that which we truly desire, inner joy and peace. Thanks to the example of Mary.
Finally, let us fix our gaze on Christ. The meaning of the mystery of the Incarnation is the mystery of the love of God. There is certainly a connection between love and happiness. No one full of love is unhappy. All people in love are happy.
Our prayer, therefore, for everyone this season is not so much for more money in our pockets, or much food on our tables, or countless gifts by our Christmas trees, rather it is that there might be immeasurable and innumerable love in our hearts and in our homes so that we can truly have a HAPPY, HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
From Fr. Mario and the LFC Staff
