I don't like to be a pessimist, but I can't help feeling that more often than not there is a great "let down" in the days following Christmas. All the energy and excitement our culture puts into the anticipation of Christmas morning only sometimes lives up to the enormous expectations of happiness. Perhaps this is because we overly fixate on the event of the nativity but overlook the eternal reality of the incarnation of Christ.

This is why it is important not to let the warmth and splendor of Christmas Eve cease once the candles are blown out. This Sunday we'll continue to contemplate the wonderful mystery of Jesus as "God with us" (Matthew 1:23) and "Word made Flesh" (John 1:1). When we take these things to heart, wonder and love become daily companions instead of annual visitors. Letdowns will still happen, but a life lived in God means satisfaction is not so far away as we think.