Welcome Him into Our Home

By Giovanna Di Lenardo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

My granddaughter reminded me that it is important to give Jesus Christ a special place in our everyday lives.

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manger

Illustration by Anastasia Suvorova

During a recent Christmas season, I hosted my four-year-old granddaughter at home. Her parents are far from the Church.

I took advantage of our time together to decorate my Christmas tree with her. As she looked at my Nativity, which I had already set up, a puzzled expression appeared on her face. So, I began to tell her in a simple way the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. I explained to her that baby Jesus would be the best man on earth, that He would become a great King, and that He would always help us.

I told her that because Mary and Joseph could not find a place to sleep, they had to stay in a stable with animals nearby. Again, she became perplexed.

As we spent the day together, every now and then she would approach the Nativity and move the figures. Without her noticing, I would check to see where she had moved them. Each time, she removed the figure of baby Jesus from the manger and moved the plastic hens and other animal figures away from the Nativity scene. I would put them back in their place, but then she would return to move them again.

That evening, after my granddaughter had gone to sleep, I found my little hens wedged inside nearby miniature cardboard houses, the other animals put out to graze, and baby Jesus again taken away from the manger. I finally understood.

After hearing the story of Jesus’s birth, my granddaughter thought that such a precious child should not remain in an uncomfortable and unhealthy place. I had spoken so highly of the Savior that she could not leave him in a manger surrounded by animals.

My little granddaughter reminded me that it is important to give our Savior a special place in our everyday lives. She also reminded me that we must not be like the innkeepers who had no room for Jesus’s family. Rather, we need to welcome Jesus into our homes and hearts as the Prince of Peace.