“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.  For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.”  (Mt. 1:20)

These were the words of an angel to Joseph in a dream explaining that Mary was pregnant not by any misdeed on her part, but by the Holy Spirit.  The birth of Jesus and our spiritual birth have a common element.  The source of both is the Holy Spirit. 

As we celebrate Christmas this week, let us remember the role of the Holy Spirit – how the creator of all that exists became one of us in the person of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, and how we too can personally experience the presence God through the same Holy Spirit. 

May the Holy Spirit enable us to continue to experience the presence of Jesus Christ more fully in all the circumstances of our lives. 

Dear Christ in Life and Work Readers,

I am excited to tell you about my new book, A Friendship that Transcends, Experiencing a Personal Relationship with Jesus that is now available at https://www.billdalgetty.com. Sixty-five stories illustrate passages from scripture and various experiences encountering God’s presence in all kinds of circumstances.  Here are just a few examples:

1. Praying with an employee planning to have an abortion
2. Experiencing God’s voice after a child is born with Down syndrome
3. Declining a career advancing promotion for family considerations
4. Experiencing physical healing of a child’s heart after the prayer of friends
5. Praying with people who are dying.
6. Seeking God’s will impacting decisions of a large multi-national company 

This book has received a Nihil Obstat from Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Arlington, Virginia Diocese as well as an endorsement from Bishop Peter Smith of the Portland, Oregon Diocese, and words of encouragement from Father Raniero Cardinal Cantalamessa of the Vatican. 

Father Jack Peterson, former Director of Youth Apostles of the Arlington Diocese, said, “While this book speaks from a Catholic perspective, it will appeal to all Christians because of Bill’s passion for inviting everyone to know and love Jesus with all their hearts.”

Thank you for considering. 

God bless you,

Bill Dalgetty

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.”  (Matthew 11:4-5)

These are the words of Jesus to the disciples of John the Baptist who asked Jesus on John’s behalf if Jesus is the one to come.  Both John’s disciples and Jesus are aware of the prophesy from Isaiah to which Jesus is referring.  As we celebrate the coming of Jesus’ birth and the fulfillment of these words of Jesus in his life and sometimes in ours, let us stop and consider what his coming really means to us.   

If we embrace Jesus and his coming, it means saying yes to a personal relationship with Jesus and experiencing his presence in this life and our life to come.  It means receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit described in Isaiah 11: 2-3 of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.  St. Paul says that when we invite Jusus into our lives, we will experience the fruit of the Holy Spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23 of love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

While we may stumble from time to time, these blessings are available to us when we open the door of our life to Jesus and invite him in.  Angels declared Jesus’ coming to shepherds, representing the lowest and poorest of the Jewish population.  At the same time the Spirit of God led the wealthiest, kings from the East to search for the birth of Jesus. 

The angels appearing to the shepherds said that the good news they were proclaiming was for “all people,” not just the Jewish people but people of every race, creed and population – people from the East and people from the West.             

As we celebrate this Christmas season, let us extend a personal invitation to Jesus asking him to come into our lives.  If we are a practicing Christian, let us renew our invitation seeking to renew a relationship that may not have the intensity that it once had.  If we have never extended the invitation, let us do so now in the quiet of our hearts and spirit. 

Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelations 3:20)

In today’s world if we had an important announcement, we would hold a press conference at a noteworthy location like the nation’s capital with various news reporters and TV networks beaming the message across the land, coupled with postings on all the internet social media.

God took an entirely different approach in announcing that he would become one of us in the person of his son, Jesus.  First, he speaks through the prophets in sometimes obscure ways hundreds of years in advance to people who could not possibly be alive when the event takes place. 

On the day of the grand event – the birth of his son, Jesus – he sends a group of angels not to the temple in Jerusalem to speak with the leaders of the Jewish faith, but to a group of obscure shepherds in the remote hills outside of the small village of Bethlehem.   While Luke reports that the shepherds made known the message they were given, and “all who heard it were amazed,” the number of people who heard this news from these unlikely heralds had to be minimal. 

Next, he uses John the Baptist, not to announce the birth of Jesus but to prepare people’s hearts for the coming of his public appearance.  Instead of John going to where the people were, he went out to the desert, and the people came to him.  Mark reports, “People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him.” (Mark 1:5) 

Think of how powerful the Spirit of God must have been working in John to cause people to make the strenuous journey, walking for two or more days over rugged roads from Jerusalem and other parts of Judea to the Jordan River!  Even the Pharisees and Sadducees made the trip.

God tells us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” (Isaiah 55:8) We see a foretaste of the power of the Holy Spirit working in John the Baptist which he says Jesus will pass on to us. 

Come Lord Jesus!  Come Holy Spirit!

“Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

These were the words of the angel Gabriel in his appearance to Mary explaining how she could become pregnant with Jesus as a virgin, and how her cousin, Elizabeth, was already six months pregnant even in her old age with John the Baptist.

What a beautiful statement for us to remember when we are seeking God’s presence and action in our lives.  However extraordinary this occurrence may have been in the history of mankind, the words of Gabriel reflect a truth that nothing is impossible in furtherance of God’s will.

In Mark’s gospel Jesus makes a similar statement when healing a boy who was possessed by an evil spirit after the disciples were unable to do so.  The father of the boy pleaded with Jesus, “If you can do anything take pity on us and help us.”  Jesus said, “Everything is possible for him who believes.”  The father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”    

We can relate to the father of the boy because we do believe, but we also struggle with our unbelief.  Let us spend some additional time in prayer with the Lord this Christmas season, for “Everything is possible for him who believes.”  (Mark 9:23)   

Will you spend some extra time with the Lord this Christmas season?