In other words, Jesus learned and matured—just like us.

The only difference between the human Jesus and us is sin. He did not sin. We do. Yet Jesus was like us in every other way. He grew hungry and thirsty. He needed rest and sleep. He felt the full range of human emotions. Jesus knew what it was to feel pity or anger or love or frustration. He knew, and he knows now, what it is to be a human person, because he was one. And the lesson here is that if he could be holy, then so can we. It cannot be in the same way as Jesus, but we can strive to follow his example, to be like him.

The great news is we don’t have to do this alone. Jesus is always there to help us. We have our community of Holy Child Jesus Parish. And in this community, we should support each other, carry each other.

Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, “We have inherited a large house, a great ‘world house,’ in which we have to live together—black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Moslem and Hindu—a family unduly separated in ideas, cultures, and interests, who because we can never live again apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace.”

Dr. King named his vision “The Beloved Community.” Growing and nurturing our beloved community with our different cultures and our varied ethnicities is what we are called to do at Holy Child Jesus Parish. We come together as a Catholic community, celebrating our differences, cherishing our unity in the Body of Christ.

The Holy Child Jesus who grew and matured, just like us, is our guide. We will walk with each other. We will walk with him.

Let’s smile as we remember that Jesus loves each and every one of us. Let’s do our best to love each other, to live in peace.