“Let us go over to Bethlehem
and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has made known to us.”
(Luke 2:15 ESV)

Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a feeding trough, Jesus the Bread of Life is food for the world. Engaged with this Gospel of hope, the shepherds went in order to see that which had happened. At the altar, we taste and see the good that has happened: the perfect man who died on a cross to save us from sin and who rose from the dead so that we may have life in His Name gives us His broken Body so that we, as broken people, may eat and live. We see that which has happened in the waters of Holy Baptism where our old selves are drowned and we rise to live in righteousness. We who are engaged by this Gospel of hope are made disciples for life.

Only the Lord has made this known to the shepherds and to us. It is only by God’s grace that we are led to Bethlehem. Never could we believe or trust in the Lord on our own. He tenderly reaches out to us so that we may believe the words of His messengers, rejoice in their announcement of the good news of great joy, and travel to Bethlehem—the house of bread—when we keep the Mass in ChristMass and receive His precious Body and Blood in order to glorify and praise God for all that we have heard and seen.

A Christian’s ChristMass happens at every Eucharist as the altar is in the "house of bread."

Let us go over to Bethlehem.

I am praying for you at the altar this ChristMass and I look forward to joining you there as we are “Making Disciples for Life” by “Engaging the World with the Gospel of Hope.”

A blessed ChristMass to you.

Peace, hope, and love in Jesus the Bread of Life,