In the beginning was the word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Christmas is a celebration of the word made flesh that has come to dwell among us. The incarnation blesses the world because God loves the world and always has. Jesus was not created for the world. The world was created for Jesus. The world is holy. It cannot be anything other than holy because it is created by the Most High God for the Messiah, Christ the Lord. Since we are children created in the image and likeness of the invisible God we too are holy. All that is created is holy too. For me that means that all of creation including the smallest microbe is created with and for Christ. Christ bring peace, reconciliation and repairs relationships with all men and all that God has created. Wars and weapons cannot bring peace. Only Christ can bring peace. To the precise extent that we carry weapons and do not share our wealth do we renounce Christ and embrace sin.

This Christmas it is my prayer that we will renounce war and work for peace. St. Francis understood well that acquisition of wealth led to violence and so he embraced poverty, the poverty of the poor Christ.