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A Christmas Prayer By Rian B. Anderson It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted so bad that year for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Daddy wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible. After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Daddy to get down the old...

Christmas Night Meditation Lord, tonight I sit at the foot of the feedbox Mary laid you in, having no other bed for you, her precious son, treasure beyond compare, a loving God's gift to a coldhearted, often indifferent and aching world, the most precious thing ever gifted, and even in your coming, mostly ignored. O Lord, how small you are as your mother picks you up with all the love a mother can offer, you, master and king, creator of all that was created, held in the loving hands of part of your creation. Unbound by space and time and...

Dear Friends, Please join me today in prayerfully remembering the reason for the season and in sharing the glad tidings of Christmas where we remember the birth of our Lord, and what it can mean for mankind. Merry Christmas Sweet, perfect child laying in Our Lady's lap, how amazing to think of who you are. Dim the light in this stable tonight, and yet, the Light of the world has come to join us. Sweet, perfect child laying in our Lady's lap, how amazing to think of who you are. Straw and the lowing of cattle tonight greet your coming,...

O Lord, amazing is your love that you come to us so vunerable, so open, You came as a babe crying in the night, You come as bread and wine, food of the poor. From the beginning you were aware of rejection, of how little room there was for you, No room at the inn, No room in many hearts, So little room in modern life, and yet, rejected or not, you wait patiently for the heart that will hear your calling, like Mary did, like the shepherds, like Andrew, and Peter and John. O Lord, that night so long...

O sweet Mary, You, with your yes as big and generous as the heart of humankind can get, with the help of the Father through the workings of the Spirit have given us the most precious gift human has ever given human: Emananuel, God with us, Jesus, whose very name proclaims this truth: God saves. O Mary, Mother of God, Mother of the church, whose advice to us has always been and always will be "Do whatever he tells you," as Christmas fast approaches, let us who know why there is a reason for joy, like you, ponder all these...

Light like a candle in the darkness, like hope in despair, like touch to the lonely, like water to a thirst, like a starry night filled with angels singing. Light, like the mysterious light filling a tomb to shatter finally the hold of the darkness. The gift of light, first among all the gifts, a love song of God, a love story, a baby's cry in the night announcing Emmanuel, God with us.