Christmas

Almost immediately after Adam and Eve committed the Original Sin and fell from grace, God promised that He would send a Savior to make things right and restore the relationship between God and man.

The entire Old Testament is filled with stories God’s chosen people, men and women who were waiting for this Messiah because they they knew they were not able to save themselves.

The New Testament begins with the events leading up to the arrival of this long-awaited Savior, Jesus Christ.

In God’s plan for the salvation of the world, He would allow his only-begotten Son to die for our sins.

But before He could suffer and die on the Cross, the Son of God would need to have a body that could be scourged and crucified.

Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary for this reason.

The Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord or Christmas on December 25, a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics.

The story of Christmas:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emman′u-el” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 1: 18-25

A short guide to Christmas:

The birth of Jesus is a historical fact:

He came among us and to make Himself known, I would say to be grasped by us He made Himself our brother, He made Himself one of us, he dressed Himself in human flesh, He made Himself man, to come to be our friend , our colleague, our companion. To give us confidence! God could have been clothed in glory, in splendor, in light, in power, to frighten us, to make our eyes widen in wonder. No, no! He came as the smallest of beings, the most fragile, the weakest. Why this? But because nobody was ashamed to approach Him, because nobody was afraid, because everyone could really have Him near him, go near Him, no longer have any distance between us and Him.
Pope Paul VI, Homily, December 25, 1971

The birth of Jesus is anything but sentimental:

God asks us to choose between two kings:

Finding Christ in the symbols of Christmas:

Remembering God’s generosity in the stuff of Christmas:

Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty Heaven’s glory was made manifest. The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night: The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal and the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible. The angels and shepherds praise Him and the magi advance with the star, for You are born for us, Little Child, God eternal!
Catechism of the Catholic Church 525

Jesus was born into an imperfect family to save an imperfect world:

Elements of Jesus’ birth anticipate his passion and death: