Sunday, December 24, Christmas Eve

Hello and welcome to your Christmas Eve reflection. It’s December 24, the eve of the birth of our Lord. Our thoughts today turn first to the legend of the Christmas spiders. A legend or a fable is a story that doesn’t claim to be historical, but simply teaches a lesson. The events surrounding the birth of Christ gave rise to many legends. As for the legend of the Christmas spiders, on Christmas Eve, the Christ Child came to the little country church to bless its Christmas tree. The church was in a community that was undergoing hard economic times. People struggled to feed their families, and the little country church had fallen into disuse. Jesus noticed that spiders had spun webs through the Christmas tree in the church. He smiled and blessed the tree. When the people came to church the next day, they found that the cobwebs on their Christmas tree had become beautiful strands of gold and silver. The Church’s Christmas season begins tonight, and this year it ends on Monday, January 8. You might want to keep Christmas decorations up in your home until the Christmas season ends. Let’s hear now about the birth of our Savior. While Mary and Joseph were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Lk 2:6-7) The birth of Jesus, the savior of the world, is told in a single phrase: “She gave birth to her firstborn son.” Those seven words describe God’s entrance into the world. It’s not that God’s messenger is born into this world. God is born into our world. The world will never be the same. Imagine God has signed on board this ship that I sail upon. I am never alone. The Lord is with me. Through life, every second. Through death, whenever, however it may come. Take a moment now to sense the Lord’s presence within you. Spend some quiet time with the Lord