That was a rush of birthday’s with Jessika, Pope Francis, Felipé and Cris! And next year we will have to do way better with Papa. Anyway, we are off to Jesus, right! Keep it simple Sister Joyce used to say.

Here is a meditation for the Nativity that Catherine and I contemplate on our rosary walks. It is very simple:

“The shepherds come and tell what the angels have announced to them: that in the city of David a Savior is born and that they are invited to seek him, and to find him, and to see him, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Mary ponders these things in her heart. She ponders a love so true, a grace so great, that it cannot be comprised by the ugliness of circumstances. This child is a King, this child is God, and yet he rests here in the harsh discomfort of a stable, in the company of animals. She herself is a virgin, and yet this child lives and breathes in her arms. In this moment Mary is a sign to us that no circumstance warrants despair. No human circumstance offers an excuse to proclaim and blame God’s absence, because there is no human circumstance in which he is not present. And thus there is never a reason to abandon hope and to lose our joy. For the Word is made flesh and dwells among us. Mary prays for us sinners, that this knowledge of the Word made flesh may become our very life and our joy, as he is her joy forever.”

from the Magnificat Rosary Companion, page 11.

Whatever your circumstances this year at this time may you remember what is most important. That is your challenge.

see you tomorrow loves, Felipé.