For years I have heard people complain about the lack of a true Christmas Spirit. We feel overworked and live with burdens and pressures scarcely imagined a generation or two ago. Often we are so busy at Christmastime we don’t spend time pondering the wondrous Gift of God’s Son. We find ourselves living with all kinds of laborsaving devices from power lawn mowers to computers, electric can openers, and the latest bread maker that can be programmed to provide you with freshly baked bread as you get out of bed and head for the breakfast table. The question arises, how shall we pay for these wonderful inventions marketing and advertising techniques have convinced us we deserve to own? The answer, of course, is “Charge it, please.” Well, that only works for a short time before we receive overdue notices in the mail from credit companies demanding payment. What is the solution? Work harder, longer hours; work Saturdays, Sundays. If that doesn’t work, both husbands and wives can work outside the home. It is our right, but what of our other rights? We want children, but in order to pay for all the latest gadgets, we go to work and pay someone else to take care of them in day-care. The children are then raised by a surrogate parental figure who may or may not have the skills to adequately nurture the children, who then increasingly feel insecure, angry, and abandoned. The family situation deteriorates further as less and less money is brought home because of day-care, extra meals out, extra professional or work clothing, and extra transportation costs, all capped off by higher taxes. Those of us who make up today’s society continue to marvel at the breakdown of the family, the decrease of morality on all levels of public and private life, along with an increase in violent crime among children venting their rage against a world they have come to fear and mistrust. I believe the issue we are dealing with on all counts is the issue of sin. The word sin is a very unpopular word in our vocabulary today. Indeed it is a word many churches have even removed and replaced with medical terminology; for example, the biblical sin of drunkenness is referred to as the disease of alcoholism. The word sin as it is used in the New Testament is the Greek word hamartia. It literally means missing the mark. The word, however, according to Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament is defined as “the most comprehensive term for moral obliquity.” What is meant by this is far greater than simply an action whereby we miss the mark; rather it means that in very real, though perhaps subtle ways, one has severely angled off from the straight course. When we think of sin in medical terms, we fail to deal with the true nature of the problem. In almost all cases it comes back to a focus on self to the exclusion of God and others. Such self-focus places the soul in mortal danger, not only spiritually, but physically and mentally. When a person becomes self-focused and loses sight of the reality of God, he cuts himself off from his only source of real help. In an attempt to cope with the lack of help, the loneliness, and the resulting insecurity, he creates his own idol. The idol may be demonic, a New Age religion, or it may be a combination of things, people, and philosophies; but when all is said and done, the idol that remains is self. When we either blatantly or subtly reject God, sooner or later we cast all other idols aside for the one we mistakenly think we can rely on: self. “The fool has said in his heart there is no God.” (Psalm 14:1) When we become idolatrous to the extent that we attempt to solve all our own problems and fail to recognize our need for God, we actually are saying by our actions we are fools. We are also saying since there is no real God, I must be the god of my own life. To do so is to invite all the pressures and temptations of the world to fall upon our own shoulders. It is to be so completely overburdened we begin to “break down” and “burn out,” not only spiritually, but emotionally and physically as well. If a church does not fully acknowledge the reality of personal sin and the responsibility each of us must bear for our sin, it will never be able to provide the remedy for sin. We send people to counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc. Helpful as these professionals may be, especially if they are coming from a Christian perspective, when all is said and done, unless the sin issue is dealt with there is no real solution to the problem; and it may continue to fester beneath the surface, robbing the person of a life of joy and true freedom in God. What then is the solution? The solution is not a “what” but a “Who.” The Gift of God we celebrate at this time of year is the Gift of Himself come to us as Jesus the Son of God, the Incarnate Word, the Light of the World, born of the Virgin Mary in complete fulfillment of the prophecies of Holy Scripture. In John 3:16 we read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And in John 1:12 it says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right (power) to become children of God.” I John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Sin is a reality of life. It is the trap that causes us to move off the mark and seek to fulfill our own desires. When we see our attempts failing, instead of stopping and turning once again to Christ, we struggle even more to solve our problems, pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. The solution is to confess our sins to God and seek His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Often, we need to confess our sins to God in the presence of a Priest, who has been given the authority of Jesus through the laying on of Apostolic hands at their ordination, to forgive sins in the Name of Jesus Christ (John 20:21-23 and James 5:14-16). Priests and Bishops have told me their counseling load was drastically diminished when they began to encourage their congregations to go to confession. When confession to Jesus is properly carried out and when the forgiveness of God is declared in absolution, many of the problems we find ourselves in are solved by His forgiving grace. What I am saying is simply this, as we approach the Christmas Season let us recognize and rejoice in the wonderful Gift God has given us. He has given us His Son for the purpose of working total forgiveness of sins in our life, that we may be truly free to live our life in joy and deep peace in service to Him. As you once again focus on the Son of God, as you confess your sins to Him and seek His forgiveness, may you rejoice in the peace of God in this holy time of year.