from lifesitenews.com by Steve Jalsevac...
Only three days to Christmas. Can you believe it? Time moves along more swiftly than we can barely endure during the latter days of this precious season!
With all this busyness, it is far too easy to lose focus on what Christmas is all about. Then we lose out on the deep personal benefits of daily contemplation of the fulfillment of the great promise that was made to mankind long, long ago. All Christians believe the promise was fulfilled with the birth of the infant Jesus.
Wonderfully, many non-Christians also delight to share in the infectious joy that this great Christian season spreads to one and all, regardless of creed. It is a spiritually and humanly magical time of love, joy, and true peace meant for everyone, but above all for those who have the greatest need of these gifts. They are the ones for whom Christ came.
There is a notably intrinsic connection in this yearly event to the celebration of life and family as Pope Benedict encapsulated in his message of Christmas on Friday, December 17 while thanking the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone for their donation of the Vatican Christmas tree.
“The Christmas tree enriches the symbolic value of the nativity scene, which is a message of fraternity and friendship; an invitation to unity and peace, an invitation to make room, in our life and in society, for God, who offers us in his omnipotent love through the fragile figure of a Child, because he wants to respond freely to his love with our own love. Therefore, the nativity scene and the tree bring a message of hope and love, and help to create the propitious climate to live the mystery of the birth of the Redeemer.”
As we trim our Christmas trees and prepare the nativity scenes in anxious anticipation of the celebration of the birth of the infant Christ, let us reflect upon the words of Pope Benedict and be reminded of the fundamental message of our Christmas customs. As we make room for Christ, we are also making room for life, love, and family.
The lights that adorn the tree and surround the home are symbols of life and call us to be mindful of the mystery of the Holy Night. The tree, once surrounded by dark shadows, is now lit up and adorned with decorations as though it bears for us marvelous fruit.
As Pope Benedict commented on the Vatican Christmas tree in 2009, “it has transfigured and becomes the messenger of a light that is not its own but bears witness to the true Light that comes into this world.
“This tree’s destiny is also comparable to our own, for we are called to bear good fruits to show that the world has truly been visited and redeemed by the Lord.”
The Christmas tree helps us to further understand the conquest of light over darkness, of good overcoming evil, of life triumphing over death.
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