Christ is the Lord!

I'm late, but...
Merry Christmas, everyone!
I know it's been forever since I have written, and I apologize. This year has been crazy, especially the last few months with prepping for the Holidays/birthdays. I got a job last month at at a local restaurant, and so that has kept me busy. I am thankful for this job, because it is difficult.


I try to strive to live by the motto: "Ora Et Labora". (Pray and work).

I may be bussing tables, and I might be tired, but I'll put that feeling aside, and I'll offer it up. I'll pray 3 hail mary's constantly throughout the day, asking Mary for graces if I'm ever feeling frustrated. I've found work to be a very spiritual experiece...that is...if you MAKE it one. Our Faith involves work, itself. :)


Anyway, I wanted to talk about Christmas.

I woke up Christmas morning, and the first thing I wanted to do was listen to my favorite Christmas song: "O Holy Night". I came across a beautiful version on Youtube that everyone should listen to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYyhLkQV6no&feature=related





As I was listening to it, I seemed to enter a world of pure bliss. One of the lines hit me:

"With all our hearts we praise His holy name..."



What does this mean to everyone? It literally means to praise God with all our heart.
But, I found this to be bittersweet. I began contemplating of those who don't "praise" Him. At least, not with their heart. How many people go to Mass, because they are supposed to? We should go to Mass because we want to. To praise God is to honor Him, pray to Him, thank Him, love Him and adore Him unceasingly. When we leave Mass, the words: "Go, and serve the Lord" don't seem to be taken seriously by many people. If you want to praise God, with all your heart, then you would strive to do this. One of our problems is we say we love God too often, but at the same time we're too choosy. "I love you, God" is easy to say when we're at a retreat, when all is right in the world, when we're at Mass. But aren't we supposed to love and sing praise to God even when all is wrong? Aren't we supposed to trust in Him? Christ's birth teaches one thing: That HE is the light of the world. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He brings renewal.

When we are lost, He is the way.
When we are faced with Satan's lies, He is the truth.
When are souls are yearning for something more, He is the life.
And He makes all things new.

He is everything. This why we should praise Him forevermore. Not just on Sundays. Not just on days where things are going great. But everyday, because CHRIST IS THE LORD.
God made the sacrifice by sending down His only begotton son to die on the cross for us.

This is what true love is. True love is sacrifice. As Faithful Christians, we will be faced with suffering and many strugles. But, we are faced with a choice of how to take these hardships.
Will we walk with Christ in them? Or will we cease to praise Him?


One sad thing about Christmas is that people get caught up in baking, buying presents, decorating etc. And while all of that is fine, we have to remember that advent is like the second Lent. It is a time we should really focus on Christ. We should be meditating on His coming.

This, in itself, should grant us peace. If you asked Jesus what He wanted for Christmas, I have no doubt in my mind that He would say: "You."

St. Paul tells us to be dead to sin, and to be alive in Christ. In order to do this we simply must become prayer warriors. Our souls must rest in Him.
Christmas is a time of rebirth, and I truly do believe that if our souls rest in Christ our Savior..we will experience some sort of "rebirth". It will be Christ living within us.

This can't happen though, if we don't praise Him. Like I said before, Faith is work.We must make an effort to attend Mass, take part in the sacraments frequently, go to adoration, and take time for meditation (scripture reading, maybe).

So, this Christmas season, think of how you can please God. Give Him the gift of self.
What can you do to praise Him? Can you pray more? Attend Mass more?
Give Him time. If you start off with 10 minutes of prayer a day, I have doubt in my mind that this will eventually increase. It becomes a beautiful habit. And with this habit, we really are giving ourselves to Christ, because we are offering our time to Him. That's all He wants.....

Father,

we are filled with the new light by the coming of your Word among us.
May the light of Faith shine in our words and actions. Grant this through
our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.