christ-mas or holidays?
“Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you.” —Isaiah 41:14
Of ourselves, we are worms and maggots, lambs and sheep (see Jn 21:15-17). In other words, we are pitiful, simple-minded, and helpless. Without Jesus, we can do nothing (Jn 15:5).
However, with Jesus, we are threshing sledges powerful enough to thresh mountains (Is 41:15). In Jesus’ kingdom, we are greater than St. John the Baptizer, Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Judith, Deborah, etc. (Mt 11:11)
Doing our own thing, immersed into our own selves, we are pitiful. Living in and for Jesus, we are glorious. Jesus makes all the difference. “ ‘Life’ means Christ” (Phil 1:21).
Christmas means Christ. If we deepen or begin our personal relationship with Jesus, this Christmas will be so wonderful that it will have international and everlasting significance for God’s kingdom. If we miss the Christ of Christmas, this Christmas will be a tragic, missed opportunity — a vain attempt to deny reality or a hypocritical, degrading self-deception. Is it going to be Christ-mas or holidays?
Prayer: Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All! (see Jn 20:28)
Promise: “I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine, that all may see and know, observe and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this.” —Is 41:19-20
Praise: On several occasions, Pope St. Damasus I took strong action to defeat heresy. He fought “hard for the faith” (Jude 3).
Reference:
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The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.