Our abiding Bethlehem

“Above all else, this is what Christmas bids us to do: give glory to God, for He is good, He is faithful, He is merciful. ...Let us allow ourselves to be warmed by the tenderness of God; we need His caress. God’s caresses do not harm us. They give us peace and strength. We need His caresses. God is full of love: to Him be praise and glory forever! - Pope Francis

Behold, when the fullness of time had come,

God sent his Son into the world. – Gal 4:4

"The Bethlehem of that night … has never passed away.  …It lives a real, unbroken, unsuspended life, not in history only, or in art, or in poetry, or even in the energetic fertile worship and fleshly hearts of the faithful, but in the worshipful reality of the Blessed Sacrament. 

Round the Tabernacle, which is our abiding Bethlehem, goes on the same world of beautiful devotion which surrounded the new-born Babe, real, out of real hearts, and realized by God’s acceptance. "

Fr Frederick W Faber

Bethlehem

 

"The mystery of Bethlehem is renewed upon the altar,

and the cry goes forth:

'Christ is born to us.  Come, let us adore!' "

Fr Karl Adam