ear Friends, Whether accompanied by the beautiful voice of Celine Dion or Nat King Cole, the words of the Christmas song come to mind:

"Although it's been said

many times, many ways,

"Merry Christmas" to you."

Once again we hear the Gospel story of the birth of Jesus, a story which has been told "many times, many ways".

We hear once again of the Song of the Angels, the evening star guiding the three kings, the shepherds who hasten to see the new-born Child in the manger surrounded by Mary, Joseph and all the animals in the poor stable of Bethlehem.

And once again, we are invited, even challenged, to find the meaning of this story, this reality, for our own day and our own lives. I would like to suggest that the Christmas Story invites us to build Bethlehem everywhere. Let me explain briefly.

The Christmas Story invites us to look at ourselves and how we come to God. Like the shepherds, the Magi and even Joseph and Mary, we come to God weak and unprepared. I am sure that at this very time, Christmas 2003, we would like to be more prayerful, more virtuous, more faith-filled. We would like to have our lives "all put together".

Yet, we realise we are not all we hope to be. We see our faults, our failures and our human weakness and this causes us sadness.

Yet, this recognition of our weakness is a source of blessing because in the Christmas Story we discover the revelation of God's perfect love. God's love is perfect because it welcomes in us what it does not have in itself, namely, human weakness.

Bethlehem is the place where we are welcomed and loved in all our human weakness. Jesus, the Son of God made man, is Himself weak and helpless. The child Jesus is vulnerable to all the weakness of human frailty. Jesus meets us in our weakness.

From the Christmas Story flow an invitation and a blessing: "Build Bethlehem everywhere."

Create places where God can be met as the one who welcomes us in our weakness. Build Bethlehem: Reconcile differences, forgive transgressions, join hands in friendship and love.

"Build Bethlehem everywhere".

I believe this message is beautifully summarised in a poem which appears in our Advent Prayer Booklet which was distributed in all the Catholic Churches of Bermuda:

When the Song of the Angels is silent,

When the Star in the sky is gone,

When Kings and princes are gone home,

When the Shepherds are again back to tending sheep,

When the manger is darkened and still?.

Then the real work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost, to heal the broken,

To feed the hungry, to befriend the lowly,

To release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among peoples .

May the invitation and the blessing of Bethlehem fill your hearts and your homes this Christmas.