The Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus are among the most attractive and widely loved writings in the New Testament. The liturgical celebrations of the Christmas season present them afresh every years as an inspiration to Christian faith. Yet these infancy narratives are generally thought not be part of the earliest Christian preaching and many details can be puzzling. How are these texts to be understood? Biblical scholars have done to reveal the meaning and the significance of the narratives and in this volume Fr Hendrickx offers a synthesis of their views. Writing clearly and without undue technicality he provides an over-view for a general reader, a starting-point for students and an invaluable aid for preachers. The needs of the latter are particularly borne in mind by a concluding chapter on preaching Christmas homilies. A further feature is an extensive bibliography of recent writing.