This article was originally published on Wed, 20 Dec 2023.

Friends, let me be the first one to wish you and your family a Merry and Blessed Christmas! Thank you for choosing Holy Spirit as your place of worship to celebrate this beautiful feast of God’s love. At the beginning of Advent, Bishop Cantu mentioned something in his homily that really caught my attention. He talked about Pope Benedict’s “Sacrament of Smile.” The Holy Father said that a smile is a true reflection of God’s tenderness and the source of an invincible hope. Beautiful, isn’t it? When we think about it carefully that is what God did, in Jesus, more than two thousand years ago. God sent His Son to a world grown weary and smiled at humanity with the words, “Do not be afraid!” The Child Jesus is the sacrament of the Father. His very presence gives hope and life. I believe it is worth reflecting on what that Sacrament of Smile is all about as we celebrate Christmas today. You and I live in a world that has grown weary and serious. Christmas reminds us that, in the darkness and stillness of the night, Christ was born to all of us. In Christ, we have witnessed and experienced our God-transformed lives. “Christmas is a time when God gives us permission to be happy, when the message from God speaks through the voice of Isaiah and says: ‘Comfort my people. Speak words of comfort!’’ (Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI). More than two thousand years have passed, and God continues to smile at us and wants to bring life again and again. But as Fr. Rolheiser says: “Christmas points out that when God was born two thousand years ago there wasn’t any room for him to be born in all the normal homes and places of the day. There was no room for him at the inn. Peoples’ busy lives and expectations kept them from offering him a place to be born. That hasn’t changed.” Perhaps, that is what Christmas is asking of us this year. Make room for Christ! Only then can we see and experience that beautiful smile from our God who is with us and who loves us! Give a loving smile to all you meet today. That is a precious gift!

Merry and Blessed Christmas to all of you! 
Fr. Ritche