Christmas commemorates that God entered this world in human form. It is the celebration of the Birth of the Savior. God has taken on human flesh. Nothing like that had ever taken place previously. Oh, yes, God was very active in the creation of the world and in forming man and woman; further, in the making of a covenant with Israel, God promised to be with and to save them. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise. He is God’s Word who saves all humanity from the tragic consequences of sin.

At His birth in Bethlehem the Infant Jesus was placed in a wooden manger by His loving Virgin Mother, Mary, and her husband, Saint Joseph. That wood would be replaced at the end of His life by the wood of the Cross on which He accomplished salvation. From the Cross, He rose to life. His Birth was a prelude to His Resurrection.

The true meaning of Christmas is that God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son; that God shared our human condition even to death; that salvation was accomplished by God within the grittiness of life.