As we are celebrating Christmas, the birth of Jesus, God becoming man, I take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

What is Christmas? Let me use an anecdote to explain. Once, a child went for an outing with his father. As he walked on the plains he heard a noise of the aero plane. He was afraid for he had not seen such thing before. He asked, "Dad, what is it?" The dad told him that it was an aero plane. Further he explained, "It is a type of vehicle which comes down and lifts the people up and takes them to the place where they are supposed to go." Yes, Christmas is just like this. It is a feast of God coming down as a man and lifting the human beings high and taking them to their original destiny, the heaven.

We are living in a world where the under current is opposite to the moral values that we have been studying in the school. All the vices such as insincerity, corruption, violence, injustice, insensitivity are eating the fabric of our society. Every human being is gradually coming under the clutches of these opposite values. Jesus has come down with the language of love, peace and joy. He has come to redeem the people groping in darkness. Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly." (Jn 10:10).

What is the message for us during this Christmas? The loud message is that we are called to live the values taught by Jesus, We are called to be the light of the world and to give life to others. How do we do that? Well, that is rather easy to explain but pretty hard to practice, so I'll explain. Look at the word JOY. You see that it is made up of three letters: first J, then O, and lastly Y. J stands for Jesus, O for Others, and Y for You. Joy therefore is: Jesus, Others, before You. To know joy in our lives we need to place Jesus first in everything. Secondly, we need to try to please others before trying to please ourselves. That is the recipe for joy. That is how we can convert the Christmas "joy to the world" into a personal "joy in my life" now and always.

Therefore, I wish each one of you a Blessed Feast of the Birth of our Lord. May He come home to you. May He walk with you in the New Year making you the bearers of His light. May you and your family be filled with peace, joy and happiness which the Lord has brought forth

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2012