May the Joy of Christmas be with you all, whatever your situation! And, may the Christ child find a place to rest at the centre of your heart and celebrations!

I want to make it clear that this is what Christmas is all about… it is, in fact Christ’s Mass! I am happy to abide by the rules of political correctness in most areas… I sincerely believe that every person has the right to be called by whatever title he or she chooses, and I believe that, as Christians we should strive to treat every person with respect, regardless of race, creed, age, gender or sexual orientation. This is living according to Christ’s law of love.

BUT…I refuse to call Christmas the “holiday/festive season”, or to send “holiday” greetings and “festive” gifts. I make no apology for my belief, or my stance on the matter. No one knows the exact date of the birth of Christ though there have been many attempts at calculation, according to the evidence at hand. However, for the last 2000 years (approximately… give or take a decade) Christians of most denominations have celebrated the birth of Christ on the 25th of December.
If you are into the Internet simply type the words “the date of Christmas” into your “search engine”, press “ENTER” and you will find a plethora of articles on the subject.

One helpful site/article I found is www.ancient-future.net/christmasdate.html but there are plenty of others.

Regardless of how or why the date was selected, it has been accepted for a couple of thousand years… and for me the date is not nearly as important as the event we commemorate and celebrate.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

So … JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD IS COME!!