Christmas Love

This is the time of year when I lay out the various Christmas gifts I have bought for loved-ones, categorize and wrap them.

Almost every year, I have this awful feeling that it is not enough.

Not enough what? Not enough money spent? Not enough in terms of number or size?

Not enough love.

It is never enough, is it? It isn't a matter of number, cost or size of the gifts given. It is a matter of one day a year not being nearly enough to show the depth of our love. Perhaps this is part of the malaise that often surrounds us at Christmastime. We get the feeling that we have missed the mark, which, of course, we have.

This is why we need to open our hearts and reach out to the Baby in the manger who came down into our lives to show us how to love.

As the Christmas season draws to a close in the early days of 2012, let's resolve to show the love we struggle to show during Christmas, throughout the entire year. It is what we are called to do as Christians.  It is the Christian message: the promise of new beginnings in God-as-helpless-infant, ready for our love.