Adopting a personal mission statement can keep one focused on what is truly important in life and turn away attention from other, often less important, matters.

Is God pleased with us if we only pay Him lip service and yet continue on in our own disobedient ways, doing our will and living according to our own sinful desires? What does God say in His Word?

You have heard of Christ's birth and know of His sufferings and death for your sins (and the sins of the world) and of His glorious resurrection. You have heard God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness to all who repent and look to Jesus in faith for pardon and life eternal. How do you respond?

Do you have God’s forgiveness, or are you attempting to hide and cover up your sins? Are you justified by God, or trying to justify yourself?

Who is this Child born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem and laid in a manger? That Babe born in Bethlehem was none other than God Himself, the eternal Word, made flesh that He might dwell among us and redeem us from sin and eternal death and damnation.

What does account of Jesus' birth mean for us today? Is it just a quaint story to be repeated each year at Christmas time or does it have meaning for us each and every day of our lives?

The child in Mary's womb was and is God with us – the LORD God Himself in human flesh – and He came into the world to fulfill all righteousness and to suffer and die in the stead of all mankind for the sins of the world.

In these prophetic words, Zacharias the priest, being filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke of the salvation God was providing in His Son, and of the ministry of his son, John the Baptist.

St. Paul and all who are called by God through the Church to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ are ministers and servants of Christ, and they are stewards of the mysteries of God.

How can this be? Upon hearing the announcement of the angel Gabriel, Mary wondered how she, a virgin, could conceive in her womb and bring forth this Son who would be called "the Son of the Highest" and who would reign on the throne of His father David forever, over an eternal kingdom.