Purpose:(1) to show that Jesus Christ comes to us in many ways-through the word and especially through the sacraments of the Church; (2) to encourage penance and Communion as essential for a holy Christmas and a true Chritian life.

There are two special ways in which Jesus Christ comes to us. The first is his coming to us as the Word of God. It is difficult to explain what is meant by "Word of God." There were a few cultures in pre-Old Testament times that taught that spoken words were realities in their own right, that is, realities distinct from what we would call today simply the meaning of spoken words. The words of a more important person are more powerful than the words of a less important person; they were "a personified wisdom." The "Word of God" came to mean an exalted person who came from God, For Catholics it meant Jesus Christ. We read in St. John's Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him was made nothing that has been made" (John: 1-3).

This divine person, Jesus, was sent to us by the Father, This is the most important of all the things that came to the human race. As far as we can tell, Jesus could have created human beings and let them develop simply as human beings, hut God created Adam and Eve as human beings raised by God's power and mercy to a higher level; that is, he gave them a share in his own life, Nothing greater could have happened to the human race than sharing in the very life of God himself. Anything else that God could have given human beings would have been tremendously less than a share in the life of God himself.

The other special way in which Jesus comes to us is in the seven sacraments of the Church And all of these different ways have to do with the divine Life in which human beings can share. They have to do with gaining divine life, with losing divine life, with regaining divine life, with strengthening divine life, or with weakening divine life.

Since these aspects of divine life are closely related to the sacraments of the Church, we will consider each of the sacraments.

Baptism is the sacrament that gives us divine life initially. Only Jesus and the Blessed Virgin were born without original sin: all other human beings are hem subject to it. This sin makes it much easier for us to commit sin. A mortal sin deprives a human being of the state of grace, that is, of sharing di~ inc life. And being deprived of divine life, unless it is restored, results in erernity without God.

Confession is a sacrament in which sins are forgiven. To be worthy of the forgiveness of sins one must confess them and have a firm intention of not committing them again. If sins are mortal, they must be forgiven in order for a person to regain a share in divine life. If sins are not mortal, but venial, one must he sorry for them and have an intention of not committing them again in order to have them forgiven: but if one's sins are only venial, a person is still in the grace of God.

Holy Communion is a sacrament in which the body and blood of Christ are received. One must not receive Communion in a state of mortal sin. Communion gives an increase in the strength of the divine life in our souls.

Confirmation is a sacrament that strengthens the divine life in the soul of its receiver and prepares the receiver to grow in his desire and ability to be strong in defending his faith.

Marriage is a sacrament that prepares one to live with one's spouse and one's children in exercising all the virtues desirable in a married life and in experiencing the joys of family life and the special help of God.

Holy Orders is a sacrament received by those who have prepared to be a bishop, a priest or a deacon. it is a guarantee of a special relationship to God and special help in carrying out one's duties.

Anointing of the sick is a sacrament preparing us for death. It givesus courage to face death and to repent of all our sins; an opportunity to receive the body and blood of our savior; and, if God wills it, a healing of our infirmity.

God has given us many good things, but the greatest ones are related to our ability to share in the life of God himself; to "become God" in a limited way, and to share God's happiness in a limited way. The faith of a Catholic is to recognize this gift of God's goodness, and to know the means of attaining it. And the hope of a Catholic is to be able to use this faith, to receive and enjoy this eternal happiness.

One thing that we can see about how Christ comes into our lives is that the only way to live is to live in divine life, not to let sin ruin our lives, The best means of doing this is to live a good moral life. This means, first of all, to avoid mortal sin, and if one does commit a mortal sin, to confess it right away in confession, If we are living habitually in the state of grace, we should go to confession regularly so as to stay that way, to live with the life of God always.

Suggested reading: catechism of the catholic church, 141, 947, 1088,1100-1102,1114,1116,1210, 2003.