All is ready...

...for tonight's beautiful mystery. As much as possible, we'll spend today contemplating the love of Saint Joseph and Mary on their arduous journey to Bethlehem, and the suffering they wholly and willingly assumed for the love of the Infant they carried, for God and for us.

Gasp, I think I'm going to cry already.

If you're crazy-busy today - with cooking or cleaning or guests - but need some brief meditation reading to feed your soul, here's a simple but nice commentary on our Savior's birth. An excerpt:

There is a great paradox in the mystery of the Incarnation, the Son of God taking on human flesh that we might be clothed in his divinity. Scripture says "he became poor that we might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9) -- rich not in material things which pass away, but rich in the things that last -- eternal life and happiness with the Triune God-- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Incarnation is the mystery of this marvelous exchange: "O marvelous exchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity." (Antiphon I of Evening Prayer for January 1st)
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Read the rest here.