Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122522-dawn.cfm

Something a little different for this special day:

---

The Light of the World is Loving You

It was Christmas Eve, 1947.  I was almost three years old – the perfect age for waiting for Santa.  There had been a bitter cold and, like all winters when we were young :-), the snow was deeper than it ever seems now!

I had been told I must be asleep before Santa would come to our house.  I shut my eyes so tight that the lids nearly curled.  I surely didn’t want him to pass us by.  Around nine o’clock, while I was somewhere between pretense and dreamland, my mother came into my room and said, “He just left. If we go to the window, you may see him leaving in his sleigh!”

In my mind’s eye, I can still see that white window frame, filled with the navy velvet of a deep December night.  I tiptoed up to it and stretched my little chin to the sill. There was an almost  full moon that night, and somewhere out of my imagination, the silhouette of Santa appeared across that brilliant moon.  It was a magic moment born of my childlike belief, my mother’s love and the culture of hope we all want to give our children.

I never saw that Santa again.  I became too wise and sophisticated to retain that wondrous vision.  But the faith, love and hope of that night have remained – eternal gifts just waiting for me to walk to the window of grace to see them.

---

These are the real gifts of this Holy Season.  After all the shopping, all the wrapping, all the hassle and all the bustle – walk to the window of your spirit.  The Light of the World is looking in at you – loving you, believing in the power of your life, hoping for your wholeness and peace.

A Blessed and Merry Christmas to all of you, dear readers!

Dark, dark, the winter cold night. Lu-lee-lay.
Hope is hard to come by. Lu-lee-lay.
Hard, hard, the journey tonight. Lu—lee-lay.
Star, guide, hope, hide our poor, winter cold night.

And on earth, peace, good will among men.
Lean, lean, the livin′ tonight. Lu-lee-lay.
Star seems darker sometimes. Lu-lee-lay.

Unto you is born this day a Savior.

Pain, yes, in the bornin’ tonight. Lu lee—lay.
Star, guide, hope, hide our poor, winter cold night.