The story of Christmas is large and fresh and incomprehensible. How could God become flesh as a defenseless baby born in an animal stall in Bethlehem? How could such hopeless circumstances – God pitching his meager tent among us 2,000 years ago – still create such hope?

You joined seminarians, priests, deacons and laypeople in Nicaragua last week for a missionary program called Acompaño. What was that like? It was a sacred experience. For me, it’s almost become imperative to go there before the celebration of Christ’s birth because Christ was born in utter poverty.

Imagine being a young girl in a country that prohibits girls from attending school and having basic societal rights. This is the world that De La Salle students were immersed in while reading “I Am Malala,” written by Pakistani-born Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb, the selection chosen for the school’s “One Book for Social Justice Project” this year.

Staying vibrant and making new friends are two reasons that men and women ages 50 to 90 take classes at the People Program, a nonprofit ministry of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph women religious.