The longing for love, wholeness, meaning and joy is an ever-present dynamic in the lives of all people.

For people who are believers, the search for these sometimes elusive realities begins with an appreciation of God as Creator, Incarnate-Redeemer and Risen Lord.

For a mature believer, the relationship with God is the basis of and the context for all other relationships whether they are with people, creation itself or with things.

Without an ongoing and progressively deepening relationship with God to give us perspective, the fundamental longings of all people remain unfulfilled. Without God, people cannot understand themselves or find a way to quiet the restlessness within them.

The celebration of Christmas is an annual opportunity to reflect on our human longings in the light of the birth of Jesus. Christmas shows us how much God loves us.

It helps us to find wholeness. It brings meaning to our lives and reminds us that we are important in the sight of God. As we appreciate Christmas in reflective prayer, celebration and community, we experience God's gift of joy in our lives.

Christmas and love

Love is a free, self-transcending, life-giving and unifying form of friendship. It is very special. The Old Testament provides countless examples of God's initiatives to invite people to a covenant relationship of love.

The many refusals and infidelities by the chosen people were met by new invitations to covenant by God. God loved his people. The gradual self-revelation of God through the events of salvation history helped people to understand the nature of love and to understand that we are not only to love God but also one another.

Beyond the expectations of everyone, God showed his love for us by becoming one of us.As Paul teaches, “ He emptied himself ” (Phil 2: 6).

Note the presence of the free and self-transcending elements from the definition of love that are present in the birth of Jesus. In the person of Jesus, the love of God becomes visible. In the life and ministry of Jesus, the love of God becomes visible.

Jesus is the gift of the Father that will bring forth life. The love of Jesus for people will unite them to the Father and form them into a community that will both witness to and share the values of Jesus with others.

Christmas and the Christian definition of love leave us with an important question: As we love and are loved, are the four elements of authentic love mentioned above present and active in our lives?

Christmas and wholeness

Wholeness requires that all the elements of a person are interacting in a positive manner and that each element receives adequate attention during our entire lifespan. The four elements of a person that are generally accepted in discussions on wholeness are: 1) physical, 2) spiritual, 3) intellectual and 4) emotional-relational.

When these four elements interact in a good rhythm of life, people begin to experience wholeness. They can actually feel it as they live their lives.

Unfortunately, either on a temporary or extended basis, most people experience more division and inner conflict in their lives than wholeness.

The tension between body and spirit that Paul discusses in his letters is another way of naming the lack of wholeness that everyone experiences sometimes and some people experience frequently.

Jesus came to set us free. Not just free from sin, but from everything that oppresses us whether the source of oppressive tension and suffering is internal or external. Positively stated, Jesus came to help us experience wholeness. A major element in his ministry was healing people in body and spirit.

At Christmas we celebrate the presence of the healing love of God for us and the call to wholeness. Have we accepted God's love and healing? Do we try to live a good rhythm of life? Are we experiencing a sense of wholeness in our lives?

Christmas and meaning

The question of meaning is a challenge to all people. What is the meaning of my life? What is the point of it? Is there such a thing as ultimate meaning? An issue I hear in spiritual direction sessions all the time is, “My life is empty, it has no meaning.”

Christmas speaks to the human thirst for meaning. In the birth of Jesus Christ we receive the gift of meaning. Vatican Council II stressed that “Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light.” ( Church in the Modern World , N. 22)

Those who have accepted and surrendered to the self-revelation of God in Christ have begun to understand that revelation is so intimately involved in human life that without it they cannot understand themselves.

When people turn in on themselves to find meaning they are unsatisfied. God has chosen to be with us, to re-create us, to adopt us and to form us into a community.

In that process we begin to understand birth, life, death, values, relationships, responsibilities and community.

Christmas is the gift of meaning. Liturgical symbols, prayer, reflective reading, dialogue and service make visible the meaning of Christmas. They feed us with the truth.

It is the mission of the Church to proclaim Christmas each year, to lift people up because of the message of God's love for us and to resist all attempts to secularize Christmas.

Christmas and joy

Joy by definition means the happiness we experience by possessing something good. What is the good of Christmas? The good of Christmas is Emmanuel – God is with us. Joy is a gift of God to those who are open to and trust God.

The presence of joy in our lives at Christmas and throughout the year flows from truly accepting the love of God, allowing God to lead us to wholeness and being grateful to God for bringing meaning to our lives.

Always remember that the difficulties of life can wear us down and challenge our joy as Christians. When that challenge touches our lives, no matter what time of the year it is, it is a call to pause and to reflect on the message of Christmas.

May the celebration of Christmas bring love, wholeness, meaning and joy to our archdiocese, nation and world!