FIGURES AROUND THE CRIB
Preparing for Christmas with Isaiah, John the Baptizer, Joseph & Mary

FIGURES AROUND THE CRIB
Preparing for Christmas with Isaiah, John the Baptizer, Joseph & Mary

Why are we drawn to the crib? What is it that keeps us coming back to the stories of Jesus' birth? Regardless of age, station in life, and the firm resolution not to return to the stable, we find ourselves once again at the crib. Why? For the same reason we find ourselves drawn to the foot of the cross on Good Friday. Both crib and cross, each in its own way, invite us to hope. But it is the crib which offers us that hope in the here and now. In highlighting four of the principal protagonists in the Christmas story, the story of the Incarnation of the Son of God — Isaiah, who foretold his coming; John the Baptist who prepared the way for him when at last he came; St. Joseph who accepted not only the role but the responsibility for his safety, well-being and upbringing; and Mary, his mother, who remained steadfast in faith to the very end — Father Maestri leads us through Advent in a journey that is at once short and intense. In this work, each day of Advent is directed by one of these guides to the crib of Christ. As we meditate on what they have to show us, we begin to recognize how near at hand He is to us right now, how in the midst of our everyday, the Word continues to be born again so that we might be born anew.

About the Author: The author of more than a dozen Alba House books and an equal number of Alba House audio and video tapes, Father William F. Maestri is a regular columnist for the New Orleans Archdiocesan newspaper, the Clarion Herald, and a collaborator on the Focus Worldwide TV Network. A guest lecturer at Pepperdine University when he wrote these pages, Father Maestri finds time in his busy schedule to give retreats and attend to his pastoral duties at St. Pius X church in New Orleans.