December 21, 2025

In today’s Gospel, we hear the beginning of the Christmas story. And what a beautiful story it is. It has all the elements of a great novel — love, mystery, drama, villains and heroes. It is such a great story because it is so real. We know the truth of the story of Jesus coming into the world because our own stories have those same elements. And that is the whole point of the Incarnation. God gave us His Word, and the Word was made flesh, and we know the Word in the person of Jesus Christ.

For many people in the ancient world, this was simply too much. Saint Paul tells us that
for the Jews, Jesus was an obstacle (they weren’t ready to accept the Messiah) and for the Greeks the Incarnation was folly (why would a god come into the world as one of his creatures?). The world just wasn’t ready. But through the gift of faith, we have the knowledge of this beautiful love God gives us. In God’s love for us, we enter into this divine mystery of faith. We see the drama unfold with confusion, fear, suspicion and reconciliation. The villains and heroes will make their appearances almost from the day of Jesus’ birth.

Over the next weeks, we will see many unfamiliar faces in our pews. What a blessing! Some are students in from college. Others are family visitors from out-of-town. Some are your neighbors who aren’t with us often. Let’s make sure that everyone feels our usual
Saint George warm welcome. The kindness you show might be just the thing a person needs to get back into the swing of things in the practice of the faith. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a small kindness. Countless times I have heard from visitors how welcome they felt, and that’s because of you folks in the pews!

So if someone should be sitting in your favorite place at Christmas, smile and say hello. Maybe even introduce yourself and let them know how glad you are they are here to pray and celebrate Our Lord’s birth. God bless you in these final days of Advent!