At this season, we often sing “Silent Night, Holy Night.” Christmas is a holy day, the day of the Lord’s birth, the day on which we celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary’s giving birth to the only-begotten Son of the Father. He is the Messiah, the King of Kings Who is our Lord Jesus Christ. What an awesome day Christmas is!

And you know the chosen people longed and waited for that day for ages upon ages. They hoped for the coming of the Messiah whom they had heard about from the prophets who proclaimed that one day the Messiah would come to reign upon the face of the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In fact, many of the young girls probably wondered, “Will I be the one to be the mother of the Messiah?” What a longing and anticipation they had! Finally, two thousand years ago, that longing and desire and hope was fulfilled in Our Lord Jesus Christ.

All people search for God as the chosen people did. The whole world continually searches and longs for Almighty God to be in their lives. Now some people don’t know Who they are looking for or what they are looking for, but we are all searching. In fact, a person with a spiritual life is always searching. A person with a deeper spiritual life is searching for a deeper life. The one who has a love for the Lord Jesus Christ is looking for a deeper love. We all have a deep longing and desire to have more and more of Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a desire that can never be fulfilled until we get to the Kingdom of Heaven.

In that search 2000 years ago, many missed Him. Why did they miss Him? Because He came in the most unexpected and unusual way! People would have thought that the King of Kings would have been in a castle with servants coming to wait on Him. And yet He was in an old manger, probably something dirty and disgusting, smelly because of the animals. There were probably bugs and flies. The hay was probably damp and moldy. It was a chilly night. Surely a stable would not be a place where we would want to spend the night! But that’s the place that the Lord Jesus Christ was born. That’s the place where God sent His only begotten Son into the world. He was meek and humble, as He brought His love to us.

And that tells us how we have to approach God. If we want to find Him, we can’t reach out in glorious ways. We have to be humble, to be hidden, to become like a child. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” See, we are all looking for answers. We are all searching. Why am I here? Why do I exist? What is life all about? Who is God and who am I? There is one Person Who can answer all our questions, Who can fulfill that longing and desire-the Lord Jesus Christ. So Who do we see when we look in that manger? When we behold the face of that Child, because of our faith, you and I can see Emmanuel, God is with us. We see the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the most High God Who lived for all eternity but Who came down from heaven because of His great love for you and me. So let us give thanks to the Father and pray for the whole world so that all people might come to know and recognize the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, that little Child in the manger.

God love you,
Father Finelli