"Songs, good feelings, beautiful liturgies, nice presents, big dinners, and sweet words do not make Christmas. Christmas is saying yes to something beyond all emotions and feelings. Christmas is saying yes to a hope based on God's initiative, which has nothing to do with what I think or feel. Christmas is believing that the salvation of the world is God's work and not mine." (Henri Nouwen) We are invited to keep the real focus of Christmas clearly before us. The birth of Jesus signified the beginning of our salvation. Since our salvation is an ongoing process until at last we die in the Lord, we are a people of hope. Each Christmas reminds us to be thankful for his great love-gift that brings and sustains in us this hope. Come, Lord Jesus, come!