I want to wish all my readers a very merry and blessed Christmas.

The meaning of Christmas can be summed up in these four simple words: The Word Became Flesh (John 1:14). The Word, the Son of God, came down to earth to be our friend in the Flesh! This is the great mystery of faith we celebrate every Christmas.

This miraculous event is called the Incarnation (In Flesh): God wrapping Himself in human flesh. He who was eternal became bound by time. He who was power itself became a powerless, little child. He who was truth itself learnt the language of men to teach us the wisdom of God.

Who among us cannot be humbled by the love of God made flesh in a helpless child who could fit into the palm of your hands? Without fanfare, without the glitter and pomp of society, this tiny bundle of flesh in a manger has brought us to our senses. His banner is the banner of the three superstar virtues that unite us with Him: Faith, Hope, and Love.

Jesus knew human joy and friendship, sickness and pain, and all that it means to be human. Yes, His feelings were like our own and He was even subject to temptation. He was, as St. Paul said, like us in all things except sin. This is what we celebrate this time of year.

Christmas is a time of special wonder. It is the most down-to-earth of our religious holidays. It brings the love of God into the loving ways people reach out to each other with gifts, with prayers, with reconciliation, with acts of human kindness towards everyone, but especially the needy.

Christmas reminds us that we need to share the love of Christ with each other. Without this love, there is no Christmas. The Son of God became flesh at Christmas and transformed our way of thinking through our faith in Him, our way of hoping by our trust in His promises, our way of loving by the way we treat one another. The Son of God gave us a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you. This new commandment of love says it all. Spread that love everywhere. Show compassion to the less fortunate. Forgive those who did you wrong. Share your joy with others. Be patient with children and the elderly. Be kind to everyone you meet. Visit the sick and those in prison. Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and welcome the stranger. We see the effects of all this more clearly and feel it more deeply at Christmas.

Christmas is not a transient feast. It lives on in our lives as long as people of good will walk the same walk as Christ, as long as they show kindness towards one another, as long as they reject the false gods of materialism, as long as they reach out to the poor and the destitute, as long as they remember that whatever they do to the least of his people they do it to Him (Matthew 25:40).

Let us take hold of this good news of the word made flesh, and live it all the time, every day and in every circumstance of our lives with whomever we meet along the corridors of life.

May you have a happy and blessed Christmas!

—Fr. Hugh Duffy