I was once asked to attend and offer the invocation at a breakfast meeting of hospital executives. Around the room I saw bright and talented men and women who would be making critical decisions about patient care, financial performance and strategic plans for addressing new markets. In walked Mary Ann, a vice-president and new mom, carrying her newborn, and everying else stopped. However important the meeting might have been, these corporate leaders were brought to a standstill by a baby as each tried to be the one who most successfully attracted the child's interest and pleasure. This little boy, so small and vulnerable, turned these movers and shakers into goo-goo-ing adults.

No wonder God sent a baby! How better to get our best loving attention than through the vulnerability of a child. Knowing the human heart that he had created, God knew how to reach that heart. God entrusted his Son to the frail flesh of a baby to give humanity's desire to please God a clearer focus.

~Fr. James Krings, St. Joseph Parish, Ballwin, MO

A holy, blessed Christmas to all our readers, and to everyone for that matter.