Theology

The Christmas story suggests that we can somehow try to be loyal members of our nations, our families, our tribes—and to reach out to the broader human community of which we are also a part.

It is a terrible scandal, but there is no way to separate the Trinity from Christmas.

For believers, the question isn’t why there are presents under the tree. It is whether the love around the family circle speaks of a larger reality and in some way reflects the meaning inherent in the universe as a whole, or whether that happy Christmas morning feeling is nothing more than the biologically conditioned response of a collection of primates in a kinship setting.

My generation and the generation before us inherited an enormous wealth of spiritual capital from a society shaped by hundreds of years of deep religious faith and engagement. Our environment was shaped by that wealth in ways that many of us did not understand; we took it for granted.

This remembrance helps develop a confident, enduring Christian hope that is more than wishful thinking and leads to real-world action.

Either Catholics consider the genius and limits of both Charles De Koninck and Jacques Maritain, or they disregard them both. The latter is unacceptable, given that surrendering the genius is too high a cost.

This is the message of Christmas hope: Jesus Christ is Immanuel, and he wants to be God with you.

If God’s example was deep concern for the lost and needy, then at all times, but especially during the celebration of Jesus’ birth, we should be so concerned as well.

This is a message of Christmas hope—that the consolation of history is found in the Spirit of God, available to all who trust in the name of Jesus Christ as Lord.