One thing we hear in this week’s readings—and last week as well—is a quiet reminder of Jesus’ “Great Commandment”: Love your neighbor as yourself, as well as another one of his most important messages: Forgive others; judge not.

“Merry Christmas.” We greet each other this way at this time of year, casually or with warmth, and a host of meanings attend the phrase.

The "Hands Project," a collection by the late photographer Martin Lueders, contains pictures of hands from all over the world: Hands working, hands praying, hands fighting, hands creating.

On Christmas Day of 1886, while listening to a choir singing the evening vespers service in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, the teenage Paul Claudel—who would become a prominent French poet, dramatist, and diplomat—experienced a conversion back to the Catholic faith of his childhood.

Brothers and sisters, the Lord has come! Let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

We have spouses and children and parents and colleagues and friends, because someone has to know us better than we know ourselves.