This morning I did breakfast for the kids again. I remembered to make sure not to give them to much sugar before mass. I thought some about the many gifts of Christmas that I received this year. I wasn't thinking about the material gifts but rather of the gifts of new insights on the birth of the Lord. I caught a program about a rather interesting lady who was a news anchor in a major market but had a mid-life crisis and returned to the faith.

We all made it to mass on time and in good spirits. The toddlers misbehaved some but I saw that the practice we have been doing is making a difference.

Our deacon gave the homily and incredibly he spoke about having received many new insights into the Christmas meaning. Many of the things that he spoke about were those that I experienced...
The Star of Bethlehem as a divine luminescence that announced to those who believed that the messiah was coming.
The magi as being symbolic of God being revealed as Lord above of all kingdoms and all faiths.
The manger was a feeding trough symbolic that the Lord is given to feed us.
The consecration of the Lord in the temple and the intuitive recognition of some there that he was the messiah.
The Lord as coming to the world in human form, as a child, in a humble life that we might know how much he loved us.
The baptism of the Lord to show that he was publicly consecrated by the Holy Spirit.
The power of the Lord to heal us from sickness.
The gift of redemption from our sinful lives on earth.
The gift of eternal life in heaven.
The salvation from another mass extinction.

This morning I had to make a decision about whether or not to go to the treatment center meeting after mass. I went back and forth about it but finally decided that it would be selfish and inconsiderate to my wife since I have been to meetings teh past two nights. I also had the intuition that she needed to run important errands. I weighed this with the service that I owe the guys and I recalled that God needs for me to be a mentor for my family in recovery as much as them. I must always consider the balance of what God allots for me and act in accordance with His will.

While she ran her errands, I got to play washers with the oldest neighborhood kid. It was a stiff competition and he beat me twice but I came back to beat him on the last toss of the last game. Afterward I got to take my son and 2 of his friends to the park and practice baseball. Two other kids and their grandfather came to the ball field and joined us. One of the kids was an 8 year old like my son and the other was his 4 year old sister. We had a great little time and did good work. When I came home I was inspired to get out a bucket of balls and play catch with my toddler kids.

This evening my wife had a staff get together for her company. I had to do dinner and care for and bathe the kids.

Thanks be to God for a great and fruitful day.