Christmas is a time for families. People travel from near and far to be with their loved ones. We mark the occasion by sharing gifts and gathering for a Christmas meal together. Christmas also helps us to remember that we are part of a wider Christian family, God’s family, and are individually cherished and loved by him. At Christmas we often gather around the crib in our local Church. We welcome Jesus, who is Emmanuel, God with us. He is the king of kings and the prince of peace, who wants to come into our lives in a special way. The simplicity of the Nativity scene helps us to see the infinite goodness of God and his closeness to us, and the Christmas message encourages us to experience anew the joy of his presence in the simple everyday aspects of our lives.
Living the Christian life is a school of love in which we learn to help and nurture one another, and grow in friendship and fellowship with Jesus. The support and prayers of each another can help us to come closer to him on the walk of faith. He is always present when we come together to pray “for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). With a spirit of openness and simplicity in our faith we can place all our trust in him.
“Fraternity is an essential human quality, for we are relational beings. A lively awareness of our relatedness helps us to look upon and to treat each person as a true sister or brother; without fraternity it is impossible to build a just society and a solid and lasting peace…The family is the wellspring of all fraternity, and as such it is the foundation and the first pathway to peace, since, by its vocation, it is meant to spread its love to the world around it.”
(Pope Francis, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, 1 January 2014)
