Happy Birthday Jesus! Thank you that you are the gift that keeps on giving. There is no one else or no other gift that we can ever find true satisfaction in. Oh Father will this truth be borne and engraved deep within my soul, my heart and my mind. On this Blessed Day, I am reminded that without you, I do not have life—You are the air I breathe, the wind beneath my wings, the light in my darkness, the Shepherd of my soul, the One who descended down to His creation to lift humanity into the divine life, that we might have and experience life to its fullest. Thank you Jesus. Thank you that you were born and became flesh. Thank you that you are the Source of Hope, the Fountain of life that gives life to dry bones. Thank you that you are our Mighty Fortress and Firm Foundation when every thing around us is moving and shifting, friendships changing, transitions in our midst, you are My shield, My Rock who I can trust in who is unshakeable. Thank you that you being born in a stable demonstrate your heart for the poor, the humble and the oppressed. Thank you that you identify with our weaknesses and as your word says you give strength to the weak, your grace is sufficient for us for in our weaknesses, we are made strong in You.
Lord, who can give us such a life, who can give us such a hope, who can give us meaning in our lives, who can show us the way, who can lift us up when we fall down, who can love us like no other, who can stand with us and who can restore us and redeem us when our lives have fallen short, who can pick us up and give us a second chance, who can forgive us our sins and set us free from the imprisonment of our souls, who can lift us up from our pits of despair and instill fresh joy and hope, who can do for us more than we can imagine, who can sanctify our minds and cleanse our hearts, who can fill us with such a passion for the broken and give us the courage and strength to fight for the injustices of this world, who can spur us on to good works, who can give us a sense and purpose for our life, who can know the deepest and darkest areas of our souls, who can we turn to and find comfort and strength in our time of need and grief, who can heal our emotions, our physical ailments and our spiritual afflictions, who can give us the deep rest that our souls long for, who can save us from the perils of this world, who can give us new appetites for the eternal, who can fill us with wisdom and discernment, who can establish the works of our hands, who can lead us in the path of truth, who can help us to stand firm in the midst of our temptation, who can give us holy desires, who can empower us beyond our human abilities to accomplish much for the kingdom of God, who can make our dreams become a reality because they were His dreams all along, who can give us a vision of the future that produces a passion in us, who can do all these things---only Jesus can. Lord, I am glad that you came, that you are Emmanuel –God with us who not only ‘CAN’ but who IS and was and IS to come. Thank you that you never change for you are the same yesterday as you are today as you will be tomorrow. Thank you that you came as a babe and in your coming you have made “eternity enter into time and time, sanctified is caught up in eternity.”(Thomas Merton)
