Christ is Born!
Glorify Him!


Today we joyfully celebrate the birth of our Savior. The Gospel story of this glorious event moves many to tears of compunction. Indeed we are moved to embrace on another our of love for God today. And even though this might be a quickly passing sentimental response it is a welcomed change in our otherwise busy life where thoughts of God are frequently crowed out by more mundane affairs.
However we should pause for a moment and give thought to the reason for this event, which forever change the course of history.

Our Lord and Savior was born to save us from the fires of hell. Surely mankind and each of us indivually for our sins could only expect to perish eternally. God’s judgment is clear in the words of our Lord, “But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: Fear him, who after he has killed has power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” Truly our eternal fate is in God’s hands. How can we affect the scales of God’s justice?

We worship the Child-God today with warm and loving hearts. Every one of us understands and loves the heart of a child, even more so the divine heart of our Savior today. Who of us would not be horrified at the thought of crucifying a child?  However this heart of the infant Christ will grow into the heart of the crucified Savior who cried in agony on the Cross, and who’s heart was pierced by a spear, precisely because of our sins. The infant Christ knows that He is born today to save us from the fires of hell by his agonizing, redeeming death. And He willingly accepts this struggle.

Of all of our sins against the Infant Christ, which will lead him to the cross, the greatest is our refusal to take advantage of His salvific struggle, from the beginning to the end of his divine life. The gift of our salvation is daily, hourly offered to us and we refuse to accept it. More than any imaginable sin this sin of refusing the gift of forgiveness, the gift that leads to eternal life and delivers us from hell fire, is the greatest.

Our Lord in His birth humbled himself completely. His step towards us is immeasurable. The greatest stumbling blocks to our salvation are our constant denial of our need for God and our excuses for not making greater efforts. We should not forget that that at the Last Judgment there will be no lawyers to offer some feeble defense for our foolishness. Our damnation will be of our own making.

Let us make that small step toward the Child-Christ today and every day and take from His infant hands the gift of salvation. There is nothing He wants more, than that we take what He offers.

Amen.