Christmas is a time we all enjoy celebrating. The tree goes up, the lights are hung, houses are decorated, the carols start playing on a loop, families and friends gather, and we all reminisce on the year that was.

But none of this would be possible, and none of it would have ever come into being, if it weren’t for one beautiful night when a light brighter than any other came into the world.

When the Blessed Virgin Mary gave her fiat upon her visit from the Angel Gabriel, she said Yes to bringing the light of the world into the world. For nine months, she carried within her womb the very light that would wipe away the darkness of sin and bring us all salvation. Just as the Ark of the Covenant carried the uncontainable God in the Old Testament, Mary housed the whole content of God’s will and truth within her in the New Testament. She was the New Ark of the Covenant, the bearer of the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament.

Joseph was anxious about being with Mary and being the father of a child that was not his own. He was fully prepared to divorce Mary privately so as to spare her any public shame. But when the Angel appeared to him and told him to stay with Mary and look after the child, he changed his mind and did just that.

The birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was able to take place because Mary and Joseph both put their faith and trust in God. Despite being seemingly ordinary people who were just trying to live the best lives they could, they were entrusted with the greatest role to be bestowed upon anyone in human history – to be the parents of the Saviour.

The Holy Family is such a beautiful model for us all. It should be a model for all families worldwide.

All fathers should do their best to emulate St Joseph, a man of great faith who worked hard to provide for his family, raised Jesus like his own child and taught Him everything he knew, and was incredibly loving and devoted to his wife.

All mothers should emulate the Blessed Mother, the Holy Virgin Mary, a woman of great faith who entrusted her life to God, took care of her family, did all she could to raise Jesus well, and was incredibly loving and devoted to her husband.

And all children should try to emulate the Christ-child, who had a great love for His parents, listened to them, learnt from them, and obeyed them well.

The story of the birth of Christ is not something that would even seem to be perfect in the eyes of the world. Joseph and a heavily pregnant Mary had to travel across the desert from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a distance of about 145km at a rate of around 4km/h. It took them around four to seven days to reach their destination. When they arrived in Bethlehem, they could not find a place to stay given the town was filled with individuals who had also come to be registered for the census ordered by Caesar. The only place available was a lowly stable. And this was where the Christ-child was born.

Even though it may not seem perfect, it was, because it was the fulfillment of God’s plan.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humbled Himself and came down from Heaven, taking the form of one of us, a human being. The Word was made flesh. God Himself was among us. A light had come into the world, a light that would expel the darkness of sin and evil forever. His name was Emmanuel – ‘God with us.’ And He was so, so good.

On that first Christmas, God gave us the greatest gift of all – Himself.

Christmas is a story of faith, hope, and love.

The faith of Our Blessed Mother Mary and St Joseph, her Blessed Spouse, was so great. It was fundamental to the birth of Christ. Despite their fears, despite their concerns, they entrusted themselves entirely to God and His Will for them. They probably had so many questions, and I’m sure the journey they took to Bethlehem would have been incredibly exhausting. But they persisted regardless because they knew that God was taking care of them. They knew that He would protect them.

Christ’s coming into the world gave us all hope. The Light of the World had finally arrived, just as had been promised to Abraham, to Moses, to Elijah, and to all the prophets and people of God who had lived in centuries past. The Covenant made in the Old Testament had been fulfilled in the New. All the promises that God had made His people would be fulfilled by Jesus Christ, with the ultimate promise, salvation and eternal life, coming only with the ultimate sacrifice, the suffering and death of Our Lord.

God loved us so much that He sent down His Only Son from Heaven to dwell among us. He knew that His Son would have to endure great suffering and a torturous death, that He would have to be sacrificed to fulfill the promise He had made to Abraham. When God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, Abraham was at great pains to do so, but he was going to out of love for and obedience to God. God, seeing Abraham’s fear of the Lord, his love for Him, did not have him follow through with the sacrifice, but instead provided a ram for the sacrifice. This was to prefigure the sacrifice that would be made by God Himself. There was no substitute for His Son. And yet He still allowed the sacrifice to take place so that one day we might be able to spend eternity with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven.

God went to such great lengths for the sake of our salvation. Throughout all of salvation history, there were so many individuals who were chosen to be a part of something far greater than they could even imagine. If you go to Mass on Christmas Eve, you will likely have the opportunity to hear the entire genealogy of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s an incredibly beautiful Gospel reading that we only really get to hear at the Christmas Vigil. If you don’t get to hear it, you should take some time to read it (it’s Matthew 1). When you hear the names being proclaimed by the priest consider how each one was just a small part of one the greatest story ever told, the story of our salvation.

As we spend time this Christmas celebrating with others, let us take time to reflect on the faith of our spiritual Mother and Father, Mary and Joseph. May we try our best to emulate their own faith and trust in God, to trust Him in times of joy and times of darkness in our own lives. Let us have hope that, thanks to the Light of the world, Jesus Christ, coming into the world and offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice for us, we may one day spend eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven and come face to face with our Father and Creator. And let us all remember the great love that God has for all of us, and try to love others as much as He loves us.

May God Bless us all this Christmas.