Even if some of us have already celebrated Christmas dozens and dozens of times, this feast remains a wonderful source of joy and fascination. We commemorate that God the Son gave up His glory to come to us, human beings who had turned away from Him. He free-willingly shared our fate in solidarity to make known to us His boundless love, and He sacrificed His life to give us access to salvation.
Christmas is the fulfillment of the many promises of the Old Testament about the awaited Messiah (cf. Catechism 12.5.1). But it is more than just the end of a chapter; it is the beginning of a new chapter in God's plan of salvation.
Likewise, we are preparing for Christ's return and the fulfillment of His 2,000-year-old promise. This will not be the end of a chapter but rather the beginning of the most wonderful era in human history. Christ will establish His kingdom of peace to enable all humankind, in every age, to learn of His Gospel. Everyone will have the same opportunity to decide freely for Christ.
We are called to serve and reign with Christ, radiating Christ's love and proclaiming His Gospel through our words and conduct. In the kingdom of peace to come, and already today.
The Lord has called us to love God with all our heart and all our strength and our neighbour as ourselves. Loving our neighbour means we want our neighbour to receive the same grace and opportunity for salvation as we do. And the more we love our God, the more we love our neighbour and long for their salvation.
The celebration of Christmas is an opportunity to meditate on the depth of God's love for us human beings, grow in our love for Him, and therefore grow in our love for our neighbour.