It is a wonderful thing that Christmas is known to people the world over as a day of celebration to mark the birth of Jesus, the Saviour.

Moreover it is nothing short of magnificent that Christ entered into our world and showed us the personification of divinity. Particularly when you consider that he was born at a time when ignorance, erroneous belief, greed, hatred and hypocrisy prevailed upon the world.

In the midst of these difficult circumstances, Christ was born, worked and transformed the lives of all people. He brought with him a message of spiritual love and a new era dawned for all humanity.

The seeker of Christmas today must actively pursue a new life of spiritual aspiration, purity and devotion. Then and only then can they feel the true spirit of Christ taking its birth within their heart.

This is the real Christmas when the spirit of the Lord begins to express itself in our hearts. When light begins to shine where darkness was before when hatred dies and love begins to grow. At this special time when we rejoice in the Christ-child being born to us we should support each other to find God's love inside us all.

The way to make Christmas successful is to trust upon God, to always think of what HE would want us to do, and to let HIM work his message of care through all our actions.

Letting all our life's activities become a living witness of God's love is a very beautiful, and a deeply significance way of holding on to Christmas for the entire year.

Let us remember this Christmas that Jesus was not born in a grand palace and his parents were not wealthy. His birth was not common knowledge. Jesus was born in a very modest place, a stable. He was born to humble and poor parents, who had nothing to boast about. He was born at an hour when no one even knew about it, except a few blessed people.

So this Christmas let's work together to look for simplicity, lets empty ourselves of the need for possessions and let's let Christ fill us with the truly marvelous gift of his spirit.

May the Lord God bless you all this Christmas.

Father Ani Xavier Ofm. Cap.