December 24, 2025
Christmas
Dear Friends,
Today is Christmas Eve. A month ago, I came across a brief reflection on Emmanuel by Father Henri Nouwen. I find this insightful. In fact, it has inspired me for the Christmas homily that I am preparing. So, I am sharing it with you today and hope that you find as much richness here as I do.
Emmanuel
“Jesus is God-with-us, Emmanuel. The great mystery of God becoming human is God’s desire to be loved by us.
By becoming a vulnerable child, completely dependent on human care, God wants to take away all distance between the human and the divine.
“Who can be afraid of a little child who needs to be fed, to be cared for, to be taught, to be guided?
We usually talk about God as the all-powerful, almighty God on whom we depend completely.
But God wanted to become the all-powerless, all-vulnerable God who completely depends on us.
How can we be afraid of a God who wants to be ‘God-with-us’ and wants us to become ‘Us-with-God’”?
I wish you the peace, joy, and hope of the Christmas Season.
Fr. Michael Schleupner
Quotation above from Bread for the Journey by Father Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996).
