Christmas: a Miniature Helicopter; Joy; and Hope

We've been having a nice Christmas get-together in my house. My son-in-law is testing the airworthiness of a miniature helicopter in the other room, my wife is napping upstairs, and I'm taking a break at my desk.

There's more to this season than relatives renewing their bonds and unwrapping gifts:

"...Joy is the true gift of Christmas, not expensive presents that demand time and money.

"We can transmit this joy simply: with a smile, with a kind gesture, with some small help, with forgiveness...."
("Visit to the Roman Parish of Santa Maria Consolatrice," Benedict XVI (December 18, 2005))
(quoted on the USCCB website (2012))

This joy comes, in part, from knowing why we're celebrating. About two thousand years ago, God stepped into the world, getting personally involved:

"¹⁰ In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

"to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary."
(Luke 1:26-27)

---

"And the Word became flesh ⁹ and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth."
(John 1:14)

Mary's baby grew up; broke the power of sin and death; then left, giving us instructions and a promise:

"¹¹ Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, ¹² and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. ¹³ And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:18-20)

And that's another topic.

More:

• "Midnight Mass - Christmas 2012"
  Benedict XVI (December 24, 2012)
• "Address by the Holy Father on the occasion of Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia"
  Benedict XVI (December 21, 2012 )
• "Visit to the Roman Parish of Santa Maria Consolatrice"
  Benedict XVI (December 18, 2005)

Related posts:

• "Genesis to Luke: A Long Journey to Christmas"
  (December 23, 2012)
• "Christmas in Cuba; The Pope's @Pontifex Twitter Account; News from Mars"
  (December 7, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Christmas in Cuba
• "Advent, Seasonal Strangeness, and Me"
  (December 2, 2012)
• " '...A Savior has been Born for You Who is Messiah and Lord...' "
  (December 25, 2011)
• "Christmas: Mything the Point"
  (December 18, 2011)