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The ornaments to print out for the Jesse Tree
Understanding the Jesse Tree
Christmas Morning
Jesus, the Son of God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.  But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”)  From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,  who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

If you go every year to Mass on Christmas Eve or Midnight Mass, you would think that the Christmas proclamation would be story of how Jesus was born. The Gospel  for the Vigil Mass from Matthew, is about the birth and the long genealogy (if the priest reads the long version), and at midnight, we read about the birth from Luke, which is very familiar.  However, on Christmas Day, the proclamation is from the beginning of the Gospel of John.  It goes back to before the birth of Jesus to the presence of Christ as the Word of God at the beginning of creation.  All was created through Him and without Him nothing came into being.  This passage does not usually touch the hearts of people at Christmas who are looking for Silent Night and Away in the Manger.  It is instead filled with much theology about the eternal Word of God born into time.  The only Son of God existed long before He entered into time and took on flesh and was born.  John goes on to say that Jesus was filled with grace and truth.  As the law came through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  This is really the true proclamation of Christmas, that the eternal Son of the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit entered into time to testify to the truth and reconcile us back to God.  God came to save His people.  This goes beyond the beautiful manger scene decorated with poinsettias into the deeper meaning of what happened that night that changed the world and changed your life and mine.  Let us give a different answer now when we are asked what we believe to be the meaning of Christmas.

The pieces of God's plan can be seen all throughout God's Word. His plan to rescue His people from sin, His plan to bring a savior to God's people from the family of Abraham, and His plan to bring a savior who is also a king from the family of David. His plan was demonstrated through the law and spoken about through the prophets.  God's great wisdom, and power, and love can be seen in His perfect plan.

At Christmas we celebrate that Jesus, God's promised and perfect plan, has come. He is the Son of God. He is the Savior. He is the King over all.

Talk together as a family about how many people have very different meanings of Christmas in our culture but for the Christian, there is one that rises above all the rest.  Explore how this affects how Christmas is celebrated for Catholics.  Talk about the challenges of celebrating a religious holiday in the midst of a post-Christian culture.