The most wonderful time of the year! It is a time to remember the events of 2023 and to look forward to the gifts of the new year 2024.

It is mind boggling to try to understand that wondrous gift of life, which has been given to each and all of us, stems from the events of over 2,000 years ago when an unwed couple found themselves expecting a baby. It had to be terrifying for them. They were in love, they were chaste, and they were pregnant. My goodness. The most important fact is that they were also faith filled. Mary was requested, by an angel of the Lord God, to carry this baby and, as we know, she said yes. She could have more easily said no. Joseph was so much in love with Mary that, even in his bewilderment, he agreed to be this baby’s father! God rewarded their faith with the profound gift of a new life! Those times were much more unforgiving about out of wedlock babies. There was an option for abortion which was obviously never considered. There was no such thing as DNA testing, but Joseph knew this baby was not his. In a sense, Mary and Joseph adopted Jesus and raised him as their own. No, Jesus was not their baby; Jesus was our baby! Mary and Joseph, with all their doubts and fears, accepted the baby Jesus as theirs and the world was blessed beyond all measure when Jesus was born!

That Christmas morn, when Christ was born, our Heavenly Father revealed to us the true meaning of family. He showed us that a family is a loving set of parents. He showed us that adoption is a wondrous option. Mary and Joseph were, in fact, adoptive parents of Jesus and they could not have loved him more! Interestingly, we who have given birth to children are also adoptive parents. Every child belongs to God. He gives us the great honor of accepting His children into our lives. It is amazing that the newborn baby is completely unique from its mother and its father! Every new life is unlike any other. Just like snowflakes, there are no two babies that are alike. Identical twins have their own unique set of fingerprints. We are each God’s child, and he knows each of us as an only child because that is what we are. There is not another like us in the whole universe and there never will be!

Even more amazing is the fact that Jesus, the son of God, entered this world just as each of us did. He was housed for about 9 months in the womb of a woman that He would call Mom. Prior to His birth, the all-powerful God of the universe was confined to the walls of His mother’s uterus. This should help us to understand the respect that each pregnancy should have, and it should also help us to realize the profound honor we have been given; being born into this world in the very same way as Jesus was. The blueprint of life is truly clear. God used His son to give us clear instructions on how to honor this profound privilege of life. Every newborn is a precious Christmas gift to us and to our world. We need to scoop up these babies and pour our love into their lives. Every life should know its worth because of the holy process of birth. 

Thank you for helping us to spread this message of the profound joy that God means for each life to have and to share. Every birth is a Christmas experience because we were each made in the image and likeness of God! Each of us brings another Christmas into this world.

Joy to the world!

May your Christmas be the profoundly joyful occasion that God means for it to be! May all the joy of that day spill over into every day of the New Year! We appreciate each of you and everything that you have done for the St. Gianna

Diane Hale, RN, CFCE
Center Educator

(Image from www.cathopic.com)