Isaiah 52:7-10
Ps 98:1-6
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18
Joy to the world! This is our song. This is what we should always be proclaiming as a people of faith.
Don't focus on what destroys your joy, for nothing can destroy the coming of the Lord. The absence of joy is merely a blank area in your view of what God is doing.
Look at the love that Jesus has for you! Jesus was born not only to save you from the darkness of sin; he was born because he loves you -- he loves YOU! Even if you had never sinned, he would have come into the world so that he could love YOU on your level, human-to-human.
Sometimes, great things come in surprising packages that do not seem to be great at all. The Eucharist -- in the form of a little wafer of bread -- does not look like it contains the full presence of Jesus with all of his humanity and his divinity. The baby Jesus -- a tiny, helpless child -- does not look like the conqueror of evil. But he is! And so is Jesus in the Eucharist; he is here for you.
And you! You might not seem to be a great person, but you contain Jesus. You contain greatness beyond imagining! This greatness does not dwell only in you; it comes out from you in every good thing that you do. This is a life of faith!
To be a follower of Jesus means we learn to imitate him. In doing good, evil is defeated. In this goodness, the greatness of Jesus extends outward from us. In this goodness, there is cause for great joy.
.JPG)
.JPG)
