THE TWELVLE CLIPS OF CHRISTMAS–DAY 1: CHRISTMAS NIGHT

Hey, I’m all for helping the homeless, but I draw the line at taking a bath with them…

Questionable bathing choices aside, you gotta admit The Little King’s heart was definitely in the right place. But that’s just how he rolled. Don Markstein's Toonopedia describes the character this way: “The Little King (who qualified for his adjective only vertically — he was quite large in the waist) was monarch of all he surveyed, but took a down-to-earth attitude toward the fact. He made his own trips to the palace mailbox, sat behind his throne to eat lunch from a workman's pail, and even did occasional household chores. He was undignified enough to slide down banisters, and took obvious delight in the fact that nobody could tell him not to.” Plus, as we witnessed, if he saw a couple of homeless guys in the street, he wasted no time getting them a meal, a bath, and a decent bed to sleep in.

You know who would of liked The Little King? Pope Francis. Speaking of the birth of another little king in his recent Christmas homily, Pope Francis had this to say about how we should conduct ourselves as Christians:

“This Child teaches us what is truly essential in our lives. He was born into the poverty of this world; there was no room in the inn for him and his family. He found shelter and support in a stable and was laid in a manger for animals. And yet, from this nothingness, the light of God's glory shines forth… In a society so often intoxicated by consumerism and hedonism, wealth and extravagance, appearances and narcissism, this Child calls us to act soberly, in other words, in a way that is simple, balanced, consistent, capable of seeing and doing what is essential. In a world which all too often is merciless to the sinner and lenient to the sin, we need to cultivate a strong sense of justice, to discern and to do God's will. Amid a culture of indifference which not infrequently turns ruthless, our style of life should instead be devout, filled with empathy, compassion and mercy, drawn daily from the wellspring of prayer.”

So, while it doesn’t necessarily mean we should jump in a tub with a couple of strangers we just met on the street, the birth of Christ should still inspire us to to radical acts of charity and compassion. We should all keep a Little King inside of us each and every day.