Preparing for Christmas!

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38).
As I write these lines, I ask Jesus Christ our Lord and God to bestow his mercy upon me and the rest of the world. It is a highly-disturbing struggle between global powers in military spending and the political/economic policies to reshape the boundaries of nations. Think of how China managed to become the 2nd global economic power in mere 10 years, and, with cheap labor yet fast learning in technology, was able to impose its presence in much of the world (Newsweek article on December 17, 2019 here). A new pact between Russia and China has emboldened their military and economic powers, not only in Asia, but also with other alliances from India and Pakistan that joined them in facing the West and particularly America  (CNN report on December 3, 2019 here).
The TV Mass on Wednesday December 18, 2019 was celebrated by Thomas Cardinal Collins; Archbishop of Toronto here. In his homily one week before Christmas, he reflected upon the coming of the Lord in our world that brings the peace, the serenity, and the justice which is there in the heart of the kingdom. "We remember the first words of our Lord like those of St. John the Baptist the great prophet of advent: Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is near at hand." Cardinal Collins said that there is a harmony in the kingdom of God that is broken in us and is restored in the coming of the Lord. He also mentioned St. Joseph "the righteous and just man" He calls on us to receive the forgiveness of the Lord in the Sacrament of Confession (i.e. Reconciliation) in order to receive the body of Christ, in the state of grace,  in the Eucharist.
On Sunday December 15, 2019, the Jesuit missionary, Fr. Henri Boulad gave a formidable homily in which he said that the coming of Christ fills our hearts with hope - In the Gospel, we read "[And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them."]. This hope, said Fr. Boulad, develops in the good news, in the miracles of Jesus Christ, the signs of times - The Seventh Day (Genesis 2:3) - It is still taking place with the certitude of faith that humanity finds in research, hospitals, and the increasing recognition of human dignity - This is Christmas that opens the kingdom of God... 
In a talk with one of his students published on December 9, 2019 Bishop Robert Barron spoke about "Five Ways to Draw Young People Back to God" (here). In a meeting of the Bishops of the United States, Bishop Barron made some proposals in order to draw young people back to the Church. The first is to get them involved in social justice issues especially because young adults like to work for the poor and charities; the evangelization about saints admired by young people for their courage to defend the needy - Jesus himself defended the marginalized and demonstrated his love for the outcast; heroes include St. John Chrysostom and St. Jerome; and St. Thomas Aquinas ... and Dorothy Day in contemporary Catholic social work who also highly made prayer, the mystical life and the Eucharist priorities, and social teachings of Popes since Leo XIII up to Francis...; second: Give priority to beauty in  the work of evangelization - see the beauty in icons, poems, literature, beautiful music, the great Cathedrals, the liturgy and the Mass...see also websites: Are they only text or do they have any compelling beautiful presence? third: education programs in dioceses and schools need to address questions of intellectual inquiry; fourth: After you have drawn young people to your church, start them on a course that would send them eventually in mission in the secular world; fifth: creatively use the social media...
Christians need to learn much of the above events and hope to prepare well for a really holy Christmas!