-- St. Sebastian Valfre
I may have written of it before, but I have had many Christmas Eve's where I was alone.
One in particular I remember, in search of Christ, I drove to the stables nearby. I knew there was a donkey that the owners were always mean too, but when I visited he always let me rub his forehead.
I thought that if I spent some time with him in the cold stable, I might be that much closer to Christ and die to my desires to be with family for Christmas Eve.
I don't know the donkey's name, but there he was and what a triumphant joy it brought to me to share some time with him. He was very smelly, as was everything at this stable, but I could always see in his eyes that he loved the love.
Christ looks with those infant eyes upon us from his crib of straw and invites all who suffer and are sorrowful to love. It is up to us to pray for those we love and join our suffering with Christ's as a small token of our gratitude for salvation through his living.
