Trust, love and joy are three virtues which are needed to appreciate Christmas, according to Archbishop Edward Gilbert.

In his Christmas column for the December 27 issue of the Catholic News, the Archbishop offered the reader an opportunity to reflect on whether or not a developing maturity was part of their lives.

He wrote: ’To appreciate Christmas, our faith must be alive and our trust in God must be profound. If not, we simply celebrate Christmas as a ’done deal’ of history or a nice social holiday with implication for family. If we appreciate what we celebrate, then every element of Christmas receives our full attention and brings our renewed life.’

He recalled the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI that every person has been given one basic responsibility in life: to love sincerely, authentically and freely.

’The Holy Father, when speaking of love, admitted that learning to love is a long and demanding journey,’ he wrote.

’Appreciating Christmas is a help to understanding love and making that lifelong love and making that lifelong journey. Christmas enables us to see the selflessness of love when God became one with us.’

Archbishop Gilbert added that one of the marks of Christmas was to experience joy. ’The definition of joy is the happiness that comes from possessing something good. What could be more joyful than being in a relationship with God? Joy increased in proportion to the appreciation we have of the good we possess. Joy flowing from faith gives us a perspective for life that enables is to carry the inevitable crosses of life which can be both unfair and crushing.’

He said the themes reflected on are intrinsic to Christmas, themes ’which must be kept alive in our hearts by prayer and celebration’. -KR (Trinidad Express)