At Christmas and on Epiphany, we celebrate that in Jesus, God has revealed Himself to us.  St. Bernard of Clairvaux highlighted that what was revealed at Christmas was God's kindness, as Titus 3:4-5 says, "when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us."  St. Bernard adds, "God’s Son came in the flesh so that mortal men could see and recognize God’s kindness. When God reveals His humanity, His goodness cannot possibly remain hidden. To show His kindness what more could He do beyond taking my human form? My [kind of] humanity ... not Adam’s...  such as he had before his fall.  How could [God] have shown His mercy more clearly than by taking on Himself our condition? ... What better proof could He have given of His love? ... The incarnation teaches us how much God cares for us and what He thinks and feels about us. ... His goodness appears through His humanity. The lesser He became through His human nature the greater was His goodness; the more He lowered Himself for me, the dearer He is to me." (First Sermon for Epiphany).  

As we head into the New Year, let us never forget Christmas, where God reveals His kindness and His nearness to us in all our human frailty and greatness.