Brothers and Sisters,

I wonder what our children will find under the Christmas tree this year . . .

One thing is certain.  We cannot find joy in material things; we cannot find joy from winning the lottery; we cannot find joy in spending the rest of our lives on an island resembling “paradise”.

It would be good for us to devote a little portion of this Sunday to planning our holidays.  Many of us will spend a great deal of time preparing Christmas presents for those we love, and in so doing, we often bring pleasure, but rarely happiness to our loved ones.  After a few months, the new sneakers, bikes, x-boxes, gadgets and clothing will no longer delight them so they simply will search for something new from which to derive joy, yet they will never find more than pleasure.

Out of love for our close family members, we need to consider how to approach Christmas in order to lead them to true happiness.  How can this be done?  Perhaps we can give them a book that will encourage them to deepen their faith!  Perhaps we can take them on a pilgrimage to a beautiful shrine or embark on some other spiritual journey!

Instead of feeding their addiction to material senses and desires, we can help satisfy their hunger for those things that bring true happiness.

Your Priest,

Fr. Paul