Christmas is coming to an end and before we finally end this season, we are invited once again to meditate on the true meaning of Christmas. One of the most meaningful phrases of the whole Christmas story for me came from the pen of St. Luke speaking about Mary: ‘Mary pondered all these things in her heart’. Many of you have experienced peace and happiness when you kneel and just contemplate in silence the crib. How many of us can say that we have reflected on the true meaning of Christmas, or have we just drifted through it, worried more about covid and the escalating numbers. This coming week we will contemplate the three wise men, they set out on a long journey there was darkness and many difficulties, but the star showed them the way.  Finally, they came to Bethlehem and found the child Jesus and they knelt and adored him.  We are also on a journey and a particularly challenging journey since March 2020.  Like the wise men we too are searchers.  As we begin 2022 let us ask for the grace, to be like the Kings, to believe and hope in moments of difficulty and darkness; to find that star, no longer a star in the sky, but the kind light of Jesus in each one of our hearts.  Today’s readings invite us once again to meditate on the true meaning of Christmas.  Good news is always a welcome commodity, especially when many of us are feeling vulnerable, anxious, and broken. The good news of today’s gospel is the good news of the Christmas morning. ‘The Word was made flesh, he lived among us.”  It’s the most powerful verse in Scripture, and the Church never tires of singing the glory of this message. This message has grasped and inspired martyrs and missionaries, poets and prophets, saints, and sinners for the past two millennia.  May it continue to inspire and invite people to call forth the best in themselves and others.  In the moments of life when we need care, God is near in Jesus the light of the world.  In the moments of life when others need a little bit of hope and encouragement, we are invited to feed them with the word of God, with Jesus who came among his own, the Word made flesh and dwelt among us.