We've come upon the most beautiful celebration of our church year: the Birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem. The 2nd person of the Most Holy Trinity humbled himself by taking on human flesh and became like us in all things except sin.
In the account of our Lord's birth, in the gospel of St. Luke, chapter two, we hear of Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem for the required census taking place and were unable to find room at the Inn. And then, at what seemed to be a most inconvenient time, Mary went into labor and had to go to a stable in order for Our Lord to be born.
In a most unclean area, and surrounded by the livestock living there, the creator of the universe came into this world as a child. This king of the universe, the Savior of the world, was born in the humblest of surroundings. In all humility, Jesus Christ was born for us and our salvation.
Then, the first people to find out about the birth of Jesus weren't the kings or nobles of that time and place, but rather simple shepherds out in the field tending their sheep. The Angels appeared to them, and, at first, they were frightened by the appearance of these angelic beings. The angel responds, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord." (Luke 10:11-12)
The shepherds were privileged to see the newborn King, and then they took that good news to those other people in their lives. "All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds." (Luke 2:18)
We, as Catholic Christians, have the chance to meet Jesus each time we attend Holy Mass. There are things that happen in our lives that we don't expect, but we, like Mary and Joseph, know that the Lord is present in all situations. And like them, we are to offer up all our issues and problems to God. It is then that the Lord Jesus is born in our hearts, and it is then we are to find that peace that can only come from a loving God. Let us learn from the Shepherds by sharing this good news about Jesus Christ, our Savior, with those other people that are in our lives. Then we can share that peace that comes from Jesus Christ in a world that so much needs the peace and love that only God has to offer.
Amen. Very good reflection.
ReplyDeleteAbout 30 years ago I had an article published in NEW COVENANT MAGAZINE called "TWO ROOMS FOR JESUS". I wrote about how Our Lady probably had made lots of preparations for the the birth of Our LORD in Nazareth, sewing lots of baby clothes & decorating the room. Probably St. Joseph carved a beautiful cradle. Everything was ready for the CHRIST CHILD's room in Nazareth!
But then they were suddenly surprised by the census, they had to "travel light" for the journey to Bethlehem & ultimately the only place that was available for JESUS to be born was a cave or stable. They had no choice but to try to clean it up as best they could, since they were helpless to do anything else.
As Catholic Christians we have two rooms for JESUS in our hearts. We have our good deeds, our prayers, our sacrifices, our ministries & all the good that we do to make a suitable place for JESUS. Our beautifully prepared NAZARETH room. Then we have our hidden, messy, darker room of our doubts & fears, our struggles, our secret thoughts & our areas of sinfulness that we don't want anyone to see & sometimes even hide from ourselves & try to hide from the LORD because of our guilt & shame. Our inner BETHLEHEM room/cave. We try to clean it up as best we could, because we are helpless to do anything else.
Our LORD JESUS doesn't choose our Nazareth room but asks to be born in our Bethlehem cave. That is where we need to welcome Our LORD JESUS into our hearts & say "COME, LORD JESUS, COME HERE WHERE YOU ARE MOST NEEDED!"
And just as the Light of CHRIST penetrated the darkness & filled the dark, messy cave at Bethlehem, He chooses to penetrate the darkness in all the corners of our personal Bethlehem cave & fill it with His Light.