This is Christmas

“My dear friends, that is Christmas—that a hand from above reaches into our lives and touches our hearts. That is Christmas, not the other things. My friends, believe it, we have to suffer a lot and hang on. Only then is it Christmas.

Christmas is not a sweet fairytale for little children—for happy nurseries . . . Christmas is serious—so serious—that men gladly—die for it. —Tell everyone—many things have to change—first—here—inside . . .

Christmas means that God—touches us,—that He—grasps our hands—and lays them—on—His—heart. —That God comes—to us—and sets us free. —Tell everyone—the other isn’t Christmas,—only this—is—Christmas,—that—God—is—with—us.”

~Alfred Delp (from The Eternal Advent, a play)