Buon Natale!

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!


Buon Natale (Italian for "Merry Christmas!")! I hope that these last days before Christmas are grace-filled as you prepare for the birth of our Lord!

As it is, we have a couple of days left to prepare for the Lord's Birth! What a blessing! I encourage all of you, if you haven't already, to tell your family that you love them; give them the gift of your presence, more than the gift of your presents. (I know, I know, you want the gift of fewer puns...)

I just have to share that it really is a blessed time to be in Rome. For one, things are far less commercial over here, just kind of on the whole. There are still plenty of shops open and selling gifts, especially in certain higher-end areas, but there just does not seem to be the same over-kill to selling and buying presents. I don't know if that means people are more focused on love...or just less willing to shell out the dough. Just kidding. I seriously am thankful for that less commerical aspect.

I am also incredibly thankful to be so close to the Holy Father during this time. I don't know if I've said this before (and I really don't care if I have): we have an awesome Pope. He is truly a humble servant of the Lord who only desires that we come to know Christ more fully, so that we may have the peace that surpasses all understanding (see Philippians 4:7). He is not afraid to proclaim the truth in love in order to bring more souls back to the Church, in order to bring souls back to true happiness.

Think about it: how many people can you honestly claim are sincerely happy, even overjoyed, at the life they are living? How often do we want to run and hide in things that will never satisfy us, things that will only distract us from the deep hunger to love and be loved? Our Pope, however, wants us to know love, the Love, the only One who will satisfy us.

This Love, says our Pope in Spe Salvi, the new encyclical on Hope, is the source of all hope. Quoting Saint Josephine Bakhita, he points to the Love of God as our only hope: "I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me--I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good." When we know true Love, we can be assured that the future will be a bright one, regardless of difficulties encountered, because we will still be moving towards that Love.

This Christmas is a perfect time for Hope, because we are celebrating the birth of that Love into the world. Jesus Christ, a.k.a. Emmanuel, a.k.a. "God is with us" (see Matthew 1:23), is the ultimate Hope, because with the birth of Jesus Christ we no longer are separated from God. God has become man and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The Hope we have is a living Hope, quite literally.

So remember what a joyous occasion this is, not because of the iPhone one might find in his stocking or the countless new neck-ties my aunts will give me, but because of Jesus Christ, Who will be born among us. And He is the greatest gift we could ever receive.

May God bless you all with a peace-filled and truly joyful Christmas as you remember the source of your joy! Buon Natale!