![]()
Reflection From
Fr. John
December 21, 2025
As the Christmas season dawns, I am pleased to welcome you to the Church of Saint Gregory
the Great, one of the flagship parishes of the Archdiocese of Miami. To the extended families, tourists,
and visitors who join us at this special time of the year, we offer a most heart-felt and cordial welcome in
the name of the Christ-child.
We hope that your experience of the anniversary of the Christmas miracle
in our midst will inspire warmth in your souls and a renewed lived-faith that keeps you close to our
Blessed Lord and His Church the entire year.
Today’s liturgical environment with its lights, fragrance, and color, the sacred music, our Nativity
scene, the selections from Holy Scripture and, above all, our solemn Eucharistic liturgy are true gifts to
help us enter into the peace and joy that are at the core of this great solemnity of God’s love. The
Scripture readings that we will reflect upon these days will remind us of the extent of God’s love for each
one of us in Jesus, the Promised One. As you know, it is a story unlike any other. It unfolded in time for the salvation of the
entire world. Throughout the centuries, there were prophets who called the attention of God’s people to the ways of the
Almighty. The prophets likewise foretold of the definitive moment of God’s action in history, when He would enter human time
and space. The hearts of many were filled with anticipation, as they longed to see what no other person had ever seen.
Later, heralded by angelic greetings to Mary and Joseph, God’s plan unfolded in earnest in the fullness of time, through the
manifestation of Divine Love in the flesh. Yes, in the life of a little child, in the manger at Bethlehem.
Consider closely how far God was willing to go to make of his people a family in Christ. Born in a humble stable, in
innocence, in vulnerability and trust, God believed in the potential of the crowning jewel of His creation, i.e., human beings,
and wanted to lead them in a personal way to believe in Him, to hope in Him and place their lives under His providential care.
Simple humble shepherds, spoken to by angels, responded and were present at that first Christmas. With celestial care,
guided by a star, He captured the spiritual attention of the royal elite, illustrated by distant kings, who likewise came to be
present at this momentous event, as nature stood in awe. Surely both shepherds and kings represent the full range of God’s
graciousness that all people, whether simple, regal or everyone in between, might find the road to holiness, and the ultimate
meaning of life in Christ. Today, we too, are called to worship the Christ child by following His light, living in His love, and
rejoicing in the miracle.
The posture of ready acceptance, willing cooperation, faith-filled hope, and adoration, shown to us by the example of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, are invitations for us to likewise be open to the love of God, and the miracles that He can do in us.
Placing ourselves in Nazareth with Mary, hearing with her the words of the Angel Gabriel, accompanying her on the arduous
journey to Bethelem, as Joseph sought lodging for them, when the time for her delivery drew near. Placing ourselves with the
Holy couple in the manger as she gave birth to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The holy awe being captured by
angelic hosts singing, “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.” What other expression could encapsulate the feeling, emotions and wonder of
this sacred event of events in the history of the world? There in Bethlehem, Mary showed the faith of a waiting world. The
Blessed Mother bore the Christ child in her womb and later held Him in her arms with love beyond all telling. Can we see in
her response to the coming of Christ a model for our own reception of Christ in our lives?
May our souls become contemporary Bethlehems, allowing Christ to be born there, bringing warmth and renewed
lived-faith. Oh come let us adore Him! Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, pray for us!
Father Michael Davis
Read More
