Christmas is a day that has special significance especially in Christian families, because it commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, their god and their leader. But worldwide, people of all faiths are also somehow involved in the celebration so that trade and gift exchange increases as a way of showing affection for someone, wars were suspended and almost everyone feels a sense of peace, tranquility, brotherhood and happiness.
The word Christmas means new life and is related to the birth of Jesus, and although it is unknown the exact date of his birth, date of birth established on 25 December. According to the sacred writings of the Catholic religion, Jesus, Son of God came to earth to redeem their sins to all mankind, preaching the commandments of the religion and offer the sacrifice of his life to save humanity.
But it all started 9 months earlier, in Nazareth, a small town in the Galilee region, north of Palestine, about the year 748 of the founding of Rome.
A woman named Mary was visited by an angel who told him he was going to be the mother of the son of God. Mary reported it to Joseph, who was committed and who also received a visit from an angel explaining the miracle of conception, or pregnancy of Mary, was due to God's will and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Joseph and Mary, aware of what this meant, they married and took on the role that God had marked.
9 months later, when almost Jesus was born, the emperor Caesar Augustus ordered a census as Joseph was born in Bethlehem, the couple had to travel to register and comply with the mandate.
traveled 120 kilometers on a trip tired and heavy for the state of Mary, she sat on a donkey and Joseph walking at his side. Arriving in Bethlehem they found no place to stay and the boy was almost born, did not know what to do, until someone gave them a small site where there was a donkey and an ox.
Mary lay down on the warm straw and that Jesus was born, the Savior, the son of God. Joseph covered his son with a diaper and laid him in a manger while several pastors attracted by the glow of a beautiful star that was placed on the portal, guided by an angel who gave them the news of the birth of the Savior, came to worship the son of God saying "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men who love the Lord!
Texts of Pope John Paul II.
... Gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. The action of the Virgin is the result of full readiness to cooperate in the plan of God, manifested in the Annunciation and its done to me according to your will.
Mary lived the experience of childbirth in a situation of extreme poverty: can not the Son of God or even what mothers usually give a newborn, by contrast, is lying in a manger , an improvised cradle which contrasts with the dignity Son of the Most High.
not forget what really matters these days:
For those believers, the birth of Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem. In the most humble circumstances, simpler and more austere born great, who else loves us, who else has taught us. And coming into this world with nothing but the love of his mother, Mary and Joseph's care and protection.
For those believers, the birth of Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem. In the most humble circumstances, simpler and more austere born great, who else loves us, who else has taught us. And coming into this world with nothing but the love of his mother, Mary and Joseph's care and protection.
And for everyone, believers or not, a day to remember that each one comes from a family that even with flaws and virtues, it's time to be thankful for them at our side. Time to return to our roots and re-remember: the only thing that really moves the world is love.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2009
