Wishing You a Merry Christmas

Dear Loyola,

This Christmas we celebrate the humanness of Jesus -- the image of our Lord as a tiny, vulnerable baby born in a stall. He became human to be with us and to humble himself, to be like us.

I have always loved the fact that the word “human” means such opposite things. “To be human” is both to be weak and to be kind. We are “merely human,” because we are flawed, but we are also human when we show empathy, warmth and generosity. 

This Christmas, I hope we’ll all revel in our humanness.  We’ll be kind to each other and to ourselves.  We’ll try particularly hard to overcome our flaws, and also learn to forgive ourselves, because God does. As we each celebrate our own religious and family traditions, we’ll bask in God’s love for us.

On Christmas morning, as I wonder whether I’ve bought my children too many presents or too few, I will be thinking of all of you too, hoping that you each are having a wonderful holiday and a much deserved break.  I pray that we can all take these moments to pay attention to what matters most in our lives.