Below is an excerpt from the Christmas message of Fr. Robert Spitzer of the Magis Center. It is good to hear and heed his words in this confusing culture and Church.

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"May the blessings of the Incarnate Lord be upon you in this Holy Season and throughout the new year.
Judging from the news about the wars in Israel-Palestine and Ukraine, the unraveling of moral teaching and random acts of violence throughout the world, as well as divisions in the culture and the Church, we might think that our world is coming apart at the seams. Yet, Christmas is, and always has been, a season of great hope that reminds us about what’s important and who’s in charge. The Christmas event—the birth of Jesus in a Bethlehem stable—tells us that the Lord of history is not only all-powerful and trans- temporal but also unconditionally humble, compassionate, gentle, loving, and healing. Is this hope really warranted?
The answer strongly implies the actions of a good and loving transcendent power—a power that is so loving, so merciful, and so healing that He would not let darkness overcome His light. For those of us with Catholic faith, we know that this is the God of Jesus Christ, the God of humble love, the God of the Beatitudes, the God of Christmas. It seems to me that all the historical signs point to the reality of Jesus Christ, His Father, and Their Spirit turning darkness into light, discord into peace, and hatred into love. If this is so, and I firmly believe it is, then we should never ever abandon hope, fall prey to fear, or slip into the darkness.
"Our faith demands that we follow the teaching of Jesus: “Fear is useless; what is needed is trust.”
Fr. Robert Spitzer