With less than a week to go, we are in the home stretch of Advent, racing toward the celebration of Christmas.

I hope we can all stop for a moment and reflect on what we have done to prepare for Christmas. By prepare, I’m not talking about shopping or cookies. Instead, I mean have I prepared my soul to celebrate the birth and coming into the world of the Son of God who came to save me?

I wonder if the discomfort — the discomfort of waking up to find that Advent came and went and knowing I did little or nothing special on the spiritual side of things — has much to do with meeting secular obligations.

Rather, is it a whispering from the Holy Spirit that my spiritual life is not what it should be? Is it perhaps a sign that I have fallen into a spiritual rut that is part of what Pope Francis has decried as a modern practice of faith that is often tired and routine? If so, Christmas is a time to renew that deeply felt and personal enthusiasm that is what our Catholic faith ought to be.

Obviously, Christmas Mass needs to be a central element. As we know, many families, especially those with young children, make it a point to attend the Vigil Mass on the afternoon of Dec. 24. The Gospel at that Mass reminds us of the preparations made by Mary and especially Joseph to receive the Son of God into the world and into their family. Parents, what an opening that Gospel gives to talk to your children, before and after the Mass, about how our faith is linked to family and the birth of Jesus.

For those attending Midnight Mass, we are treated to the Gospel of Luke that describes the poor family away from home welcoming Jesus in the poverty of a manger. Bethlehem and the world had no worthy place that it would offer to Mary and the Baby Jesus. That Gospel reminds us of God’s love, of the sacrifice of family, of the shame of an ungenerous society and of the dignity of those who are poor; all thoughts to rouse our faith.

Some start Christmas morning early by attending the first Mass on Christmas Day, often called the Mass at Dawn (even if it is celebrated a little later). What a joy to link the Christmas Day so directly to the birth of Jesus!

The Gospel at that Mass, reflecting a time a few hours after the birth of Jesus so linked to Midnight Mass, describes the world’s reaction. It tells us of the shepherds, the cold, lowly and often petty thieving lot that received the first call to come and adore. Their spiritual reaction “they went in haste” should be ours, not allowing distractions or worries to keep us from adoring Jesus, on Christmas and every day of the year. Meanwhile, Mary keeps all these memories in her heart. Do we?

The later Masses are called the Mass of the Day. That Mass features the Gospel of John which no longer tells us the details of Jesus birth. Instead, it reflects on the awesome meaning of the Son of God coming into our world, sharing our nature and our human flesh.

Who is not moved to know that “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”? He has walked with us, laughed with us, and gone through all the tough times that we have.

If there is a special Christmas thought, I hope it might be this: our faith is not just the retelling of mythical tales that perhaps give us psychological comfort but have no further meaning.

The story of Jesus’ birth is a retelling of something real, something that happened.

But beyond the details of Christmas night is the meaning of Christ’s birth that is just as real today. We reflect on God’s love and forgiveness of sin, and the task entrusted to each of us to live that faith in a manner worthy of those waiting and hoping for eternal life with Jesus. In a special way, we need to ask if there are changes we need to make in our lives to live more worthily. If, for example, Christmas is the only Mass you attend each year, you are most welcome. But shouldn’t you come and adore Him regularly?

God’s love and our chance to freely accept it by our moral lives and our lives of faith make Christmas more than just a story. It is the reality and joy of who we are as we go through life.

My prayers and best wishes to all for a most Blessed Christmas!