How would Christ celebrate Christmas if He were with us today? -- Let's rediscover the profound meaning of Christmas...

Why is it that on this occasion when we celebrate God's great love for mankind, so many people are sad and suffer from extreme loneliness? Could it be that we have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas?

Sometimes it's completely buried under the glitter, decorations, presents and festivities. When we lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas, we also lose the joy that comes with it. The frenzy of the preparations makes us forget the deeper meaning of Christmas, which is an opportunity to show our gratitude and thanks for the wonderful gift that God gave to mankind that night.

More than anything else, Christmas is a celebration of love - the purest, most beautiful, most sincere, and most complete love we have ever known - the love of a Heavenly Father who sent His Son into our midst to teach us how to love and to give us a better life. He has done away with complicated rules and rituals, and shown us that we don't need to be perfect, or to measure up all the time, or to meet totally unrealistic expectations.

He simply asked us to love Him and our fellow human beings. The best way to celebrate Christmas is to give gifts to the Lord-to offer Him our love and our gratitude.

Christmas is an opportunity for us to think of those who are too often forgotten and left behind. We can do something nice to help those in need. We can show our gratitude by extending a helping hand to those less fortunate than ourselves.

This will please God, not to mention fill our hearts with deep satisfaction. The real enchantment of Christmas is not the presents, the decorations, or the festivities - it's what we give from the bottom of our hearts to the Lord and to others. Our heartfelt giving shows our gratitude for all that God has given us this Christmas.  If Christ were with us today, I'm sure that's how He would celebrate Christmas.