It is the time, the season of Christmas, a time for great joy and happiness as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We must, however, never forget that while the birth of the Word made flesh was and is truly a miracle, it was not his birth that saved us but his death and resurrection that brought us salvation. On this day, His day, we celebrate God’s greatest gift to all of us, the gift of His only Son.

Christmas begins with Christ, Christmas is for Christ, Christmas is about Christ, Christmas is Christ. Christmas is not a holiday; Christmas is a Holy Day because it is His Day.

While many may fervently wish to make it a day for buying and selling, hurrying and scurrying, football games and turkey, tinsel and lights on a tree, music and presents, Santa Claus, and reindeer, let us not forget that it was God who gave us life, God who gave the world His Son, and God in His infinite and abundant love who gave us Christmas.

There are those who wish to take Christ out of Christmas, to make it something that it is not, to turn it into something it was never intended to be. They seek to demystify the mystery, make unholy the holy, and to secularize the sacred. To them, I say “Good Luck” because without ‘Christ’ we are left with only ‘mas’ which in Spanish means ‘more’ which really says it all, doesn’t it? Perhaps Forest Gump said it best when he said “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Christmas cannot be purchased at Macy’s, or Best Buy, nor can it be bought online at Amazon.com, or anywhere else for that matter. To paraphrase a familiar commercial: Christmas is priceless. There is simply no way to place a price tag on Christ and yet, for some reason, many people keep trying with all their might to do just that. They spend all of their time and money searching for the perfect gift or asking for that one thing that will make them most happy when all they have to do is open their hearts and receive the greatest gift of all, the saving grace and love of Jesus Christ. Christ, who has everything because He is the creator of all things, gives us everything that we will ever need. He gives us all His love for the price of our love in return.

Christmas is our gift from God and it is the most precious gift of all. He deserves our most heartfelt thanks and praise for the ultimate gift of His precious Son.

May each and every one of you enjoy the blessings and peace that comes from Almighty God this Christmas. Have a blessed Christmas.