The Message From The Crib Of The Lord's Nativity

24-12-2017 THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (SOLEMNITY)

SCRIPTURAL READING:

1. Is 62:1-5

Ps. 89:4-5.16-17.27.29 (R. 2a).

1. Acts 13:16-17.22-25
2. Gospel Matt. 1:1-25 or 1:18-25.

Preamble:

Please dear friends I would like you to repeat these words after me;

Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I give my heart, help me welcome you.

Lord Jesus, I give you my ears, help me hear your voice,

Lord Jesus, I give you my mind, help me understand.

Holy Spirit rekindle in me the fire of your love. Amen.

THEME: THE MESSAGE FROM THE CRIB OF THE LORD’S NATIVITY.

Today we recall God’s entrance into our history. We recall God’s love for us. We recall God’s attention for man. We recall and celebrate a wedding of heaven to earth. God the Son become man! (et incarnatus est.) It is worth celebrating, little wonder the host of angels sang-Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased! (cf. Luke 2:14).

Although he was earlier announced by the prophets, read and spoken about by the priests, anticipated by the Jewish nation that the Messiah would come to redeem them from the hands of their oppressors-the Romans, yet didn’t recognize him when he came. He didn’t come as men thought he would have him come. So, while they were busy celebrating and going about their own businesses, he chose to come in the simplest of forms.

The gospel of Luke 2:6 tells us “and while they were (in Bethlehem), the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

When we prayerfully reflect on this, we are able to notice what the prologue of the Gospel of St. John says: “he came to his own home, and his own people received him not.” (cf. John 1:11). Imagine! The savoiur of the world, for him in whom all things were created (cf. Col. 1:16), there was no room. What a contradiction? “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). But a manger! He who was crucified outside the city (Heb. 13:12) also came into the world outside the city.

This should cause us to reflect and Emeritus Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI leads the way. He tells us that in Jesus, there is the reversal of values and his message. From the moment of his birth, he belongs outside the realm of what is important and powerless in worldly terms. Yet it is this unimportant and powerless child that proves to be the truly powerful one, the one on whom ultimately everything depends. So one aspect of becoming a Christian is having what everyone else thinks and wants, the prevailing standards, in order to enter the light of the truth of our being, and aided by that light to find the right path.

Mary wrapped the child in swaddling clothes. This pictures for us the love with which Mary approached her hour and prepared for the birth of her child. Theologically, the child stiffly wrapped in bandages is seen as prefiguring the hour of his death: from the outset, he is the sacrificial victim, as we shall see more closely when we examine the reference to the first-born. The manger, then, was seen as a kind of altar.

St. Augustine gives a meaning of the manger which reveals a great truth to us. The manger is the place where animals find their food. But now, lying in the manger is he who called himself the true bread come down from heaven, the true nourishment that we need in order to be fully ourselves. This is the food that gives us true life, eternal life. Thus the manger becomes a reference to the table of God, to which we are invited so as to receive the bread of God. From the poverty of Jesus’ birth emerges the miracle in which man’s redemption is mysteriously accomplished.

Although the Gospel doesn’t mention that animals were present in the manger at that point but we must also recall that the idea of the manger also tells us that animals came to it for food. And a prayerful reflection reading Old Testament and New Testament in the light of one another, fill up this gap by pointing to Isaiah 1:3: “the ox knows its owner, and the ass its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand.”

The Greek version of Habakkuk 3:2 reads “in the midst of two living creatures you will be recognized…when the time has come, you will appear.” The two living creatures would appear to refer to the two cherubs on the mercy-seat of the Ark of the Covenant (cf. Ex. 25:18-20), who both reveal and conceal the mysterious presence of God. So the manger has in some sense become the Ark of the Covenant, in which God is mysteriously hidden among men, and before which the time has come for “ox and ass”-humanity made up of Jews and Gentiles-to acknowledge God.

Through this remarkable combination of Is 1:3, Hab. 3:2, Ex. 25:18-20 and the manger, the two animals now appear as an image of a formerly blind humanity who now before the child, before God’s humble self-manifestation in the stable, has learned to recognize him, and in the lowliness of his birth receives the revelation that now teaches all people to see. The truth remain that no representation of the crib is complete without the ox and ass because it tells of a blind humanity that has now come to know its messiah.

So if we are to recognize the Lord in the Crib or we say the manger, it leads us more and more to be like our Lord and master who chose simplicity other than complexity. He chose to identify with us, be in solidarity with us other than condemn us. To whom nothing unclean can come in contact with decides to eat and dine with us for a singular purpose of making us whole, clean and restored to our original glory. We should be happy and joyful.

There is no Christmas story that is complete without the manger/crib because it reminds us how the lord was received when he came into our world. When he came we were inattentive and we treated him poorly. So the crib reminds us to mediate awhile in silence to know how we may treat Jesus well this time around. Little wonder the Holy Father Pope Francis in his homily for Christmas has said-you are Christmas!

How may we be Christmas if we have not learnt to be silent and be still before the crib of the Lord’s Nativity to reflect on how much love God has for us. To reflect his solemn and quiet entrance into our broken world so as to repair it.

Christmas calls us to show love and concern for others. To be that hand that will heal and bandage the wounds of others. We are called to give that reassurance to others not just at Christmas celebrations but always. We cannot do it without contemplation. Contemplation simply means an application of the mind in prayer. Once I pray as I should, I would become responsible. For prayer enables me to be the hand of Jesus everywhere I am. Little wonder the Holy Father says it all in his Christmas message to the world titled “Christmas is you.” When as a Christian I am able to make the world a better place, Christmas is me is the summary of his message to the world.

We cannot change the world without first recognizing our Lord who was born in the manger. It is there we contemplate the love of God. From there we learn a new lesson to be charitable with a whole lot of selflessness. How can I practice love in its pure degree if I have not contemplated the love of God for me.

Dear friends I chanced upon this video on whatzapp this afternoon and it is worth sharing and I would like the choir to lead us in that beautiful song ”…SILENT NIGHT…HOLY NIGHT.” This Christmas calls us to reflect on the piece of joy we felt long ago when our parents did everything to make Christmas count for us even if your parents didn’t give you a good Christmas I don’t think you should deny others the joy of Christmas if God has blessed you.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep…you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish some place…you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness…you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation… you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend mass today, attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death…you are more blessed than three billion people in the world living under contact threats, harassments and are unable to worship God.

If your parents are still alive and are still married…you are very rare, even in the United States and in other parts of the world where divorce have become the order of the day.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful…you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone’s hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder…you are blessed because you can offer a healing touch.

If you are listening to this message with openness of heart and have made up your mind not to be stingy but be generous this Christmas and always…you are twice more blessed than those who are stingy and refuse to be generous.

Beloved brothers and sisters, make this Christmas count for someone today and let the peace and joy that the infant Jesus brings to us radiate through us unto others.

Remember the message of Pope Francis…you are Christmas. Be the Christmas to others.

God bless you and I wish you a Merry Christmas!!!