have always had a vivid imagination. I imagine -- in fact I KNOW -- that we are LOVE made flesh. That is the gift each of us has to give.

The holy family depicted here endured struggles, as modern families do, and they met those struggles with faith and perseverance and obtained the peace, if only fleeting, that we see in this painting.

He told me not to be afraid, that I had found favor with God. "You will be with child," it said, "and give birth to a son. And you are to give him the name Jesus."

The waiting time for Christmas is almost over. But so what? After all, there is nothing special about waiting. It's what we're waiting for that matters.

It may be that, properly understood, the Rudolph story can actually nudge us in the direction of the Babe of Bethlehem.