My Dear People of God, 

May this Christmas be a very special time and may the baby Jesus bless you and your families.               

 The infinite God had a plan from the beginning of humanity to be with us. But first, God had to create a people who would be able to receive Him. So, God called Abraham to leave the land by the Tigris and Euphrates and to go to an unknown land far away. Why did God want Abraham go to this new land? It was a twofold purpose. First Abraham must be detached from the influences of his ancestral home, and, going to an unknown land meant he had to trust God.   The most important reason why God told Abraham to go to a new land was because it would be the place in which the future Messiah was going to be born and live. There, the people were going to be different! There would be no empire to destroy them.

God planned to have a maiden, a virgin, give birth to a child, Emmanuel, which means “God is with us”. Isaiah foretold 700 years previously this would happen. This was fulfilled when the Angel appeared to Mary and announced the good news that she was going to have a child through the power of God: “the Holy Spirit will overshadow you,” and to name this child Jesus, (Yashua), because He was going to save His people. Jesus (Yashua in Hebrew) means savior.

This is the most important news for the whole of humanity. God chose a humble maiden and a poor man, Joseph. They were betrothed and committed to be with each other for the rest of their lives but had not yet lived together. Learning that Mary was with child, Joseph was unsure and confused. The Angel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid—to take Mary as his wife—because this child is from God. So, Joseph took Mary as his wife.   

God was with them as they traveled to Bethlehem, their ancestral heritage, to register for the census. Upon their arrival, Mary gave birth to Jesus in the City of David, their ancestral home. This shows the connection between David, Mary, and Joseph. As it was promised, someone will sit on his throne (King David’s) and rule forever. That time had come!  Jesus, born in Bethlehem, is the newborn king who will sit on the throne of David, and rule forever. We recently celebrated Jesus, King of the Universe. It has a connection with the prophecy Nathan told David that God will establish the House to last forever. (This is in the physical sense.)  And when Jesus dies on the cross, Paradise will be opened and the kingdom of God in Heaven will last forever. This, in a spiritual and eschatological sense, is all connected. This reveals that God had planned this for a long time, and what He revealed through the prophets was fulfilled in Jesus.  Jesus came to save us from our sins; to open Paradise—a place for all who believe they will be with Him forever. This is the good news of salvation!  This is the good news in which we rejoice at the coming of our savior on earth, taking flesh, and becoming human as one of us, so we can relate to Him and follow Him. 

This proves how great the love of God truly is. The angel told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife; so, if our final goal is to be in the Kingdom of Heaven where Jesus reigns, we should not be afraid of the setbacks we encounter in this life, either.    

When Jesus reigns in our hearts, then Christmas will have a greater and deeper meaning for each one of us. Each year we should and will have a deeper appreciation of the love of God and our lives will be edified because of it. 

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente