By Fr. John Hanley, OMI, St. William Parish

The message of Bethlehem and Christmas is a message of love, of promise, of hope, and of salvation. 

Christmas is about love - it is about the love of God that never ends. "for God so loved the world…" it is about promise - about a God who was faithful to the promise of the ages.  It is about hope - the hope of a people who would not give up the dream of a world that would be better, but it is ultimately about salvation. 

It is about the love of Mary and Joseph and Jesus. It is about the promise of God fulfilled in the person of a little infant, the only-begotten Son of God. It is about the hope of all humanity to share in the life of God now and forever, and it is about the salvation achieved by this God-man, not simply in the cave at Bethlehem, but most perfectly upon the hill of calvary.  Bethlehem leads to Jerusalem.  The crib leads to the cross.  The cross leads to the empty tomb.

May God be with you and your families during this Christmas season and throughout the new year!