Even Pope Benedict XVI, in his Christmas address Urbi et Orbi alighted on the concerns on the economic crisis.

The Pope stated, in a long list of difficulties around the world, that “wherever an increasingly uncertain future is regarded with apprehension, even in affluent nations: in each of these places may the Light of Christmas shine forth and encourage all people to do their part in a spirit of authentic solidarity…If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart.”

Well, economists and social commentators have said it – 2009 may be a tough economic year.  Even this friendly, neighborhood Mortgage Banker has affirmed that now is the time to get your economic affairs in order, including rolling revolving debt into a new, low rate mortgage and reducing expenses, and be prepared to weather a period of high inflation.

But, it is also a time of hope.  It can be a time of families and friends coming together, a time to focus on the lasting things rather than the fleeting.  A time beginning at Christmas, the”feast of light” that begins with a small glimmer in the night, which then spreads out “from a precise point in the universe: from the stable of Bethlehem, where the divine Child was born.”

Merry Christmas.