Blessing for Christmas:

Each day holds the promise of new birth. Let us offer hope and possibility to all we meet. May all know your love imprinted on their hearts, Caring God, by the way we honor them. Amen.

“Holy Family” – Refugees:

The members of the “Holy Family”: Jesus, Mary and Joseph were also refugees. They had to flee from their own town in order to avoid being killed. Today, we pray specially for the millions of refugee families who are mercilessly forced to flee from their own countries to avoid being killed.

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During the whole Christmas period our eyes will rejoice at the mystery of the Holy Family, just as children rejoice when they look at the crib, recognizing in it a kind of prototype of their own family, the family within which they came into the world. How many cribs there are in the world: in churches, in public squares, in homes and even in workplaces! The Birth of the Lord gladdens us, the mystery of the Holy Family gladdens us.

- Pope John Paul II (12-25-95)