5th Day of Christmas, 2009

Because the event that we celebrate at Christmas is so important to our world, the Church takes 12 days to celebrate it.Consider this reflection by Pope John Paul II

 A human being is born.  He or she is one of the millions and millions of people who have been born, are being born and will be born on earth.  A human being, one in a vast range of statistics.  It is not inappropriate that Jesus came into the world when a census was being held, when a Roman Emperor wanted to know the number of subjects in his territory.  A human being is an object to be counted, sometimes considered under the aspect of quantity, one of many millions.
 Yet at the same time, he or she is a single being, unique and unrepeatable. If we celebrate with such solemnity the birth of Jesus, it is to bear witness that every human being is somebody unique and unrepeatable. If our human statistics, human categories, human political, economic and social systems, and mere possibilities fail to ensure that an individual can be born, live and act as one who is unique and unrepeatable, then all this is ensured by God.  For God and before God, the human being is always unique and unrepeatable, somebody thought of and chosen from eternity, someone called and identified by name.

Because you are God's chosen ones,
holy and beloved,
clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy,
with kindness, humility, meekness and patience
Col. 3:12

Reflection
Look in the mirror.
Pope John Paul II is talking about you.