Merry Christmas to you! We celebrate today, after four weeks of Advent preparation, for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ who came to reconcile us to God and to teach us to love Him through our neighbor. Our joyful hope is fulfilled as we commemorate the Good News of God becoming man, born of a virgin as the prophets foretold, so that all men can become Children of God.

We are in the fourth week of waiting for the coming of Jesus into our lives. But do we really know what it means for Jesus to come into our lives? Are we aware that when Jesus is allowed into our lives, He is very likely to effect significant changes that will alter the course of our lives?

The theme of patience and joyous hope runs through the Readings of this year’s Third Sunday of Advent. We who await the arrival of our salvation are encouraged to do so joyfully, patiently and full of hope.

For the ancient Jewish people, there were three boxes to be ticked in order to prove the authenticity of the expected Messiah. The Messiah would have to come from the royal household of King David, He would establish justice in the land, and He would cause the restoration of the incredible peace found in the original garden of Eden.