We are now, once more, on the verge of the Christmas celebration. Following this year’s brief Advent season, we proudly proclaim on Christmas Day our faith in the child in the manger. People of faith, or simply of good will, recognize that the birth of Jesus over 2,000 years ago changed the world.

 

In the Gospels, the Christmas story tells us that the full meaning of that birth was not immediately obvious. As we recall with every crib scene, the moment when God entered into the life of His people was done in a simple and even hidden manner.

 

A poor family, with the wife at the end of the time of her pregnancy, was forced to travel a hard road from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The earthly powers had made a decision and issued a decree. All had to be entered into the census. Their individual or family circumstances made no difference. Most especially the poor could not resist the power of the state. And so, Mary and Joseph set out, likely indistinguishable from so many other poor families trudging that same road.

 

Nine months prior, Mary, in her lowliness as she herself proclaimed, was greeted by the Archangel Gabriel and told she was to be the mother of God. There is no hint of Mary having stood out from other young women her age by reason of status or wealth. But her invisible holiness was known to God.

 

On Christmas night she gave birth to a child whom she knew had not been entrusted to her by the usual human means, but by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. Like others who sought shelter on a cold night, that birth took place in a cave or a stable that made it seem commonplace. In fact, Jesus’s birth under those circumstances has served as a reminder to the world ever since of the cruelty and lack of love that is so present when the poor or strangers coming knocking on doors.

 

Angels, we are told, went to alert the first representatives of the human race to come and see the Savior that had come into the world. Those nearby shepherds had no claim to fame or notoriety either. Lowly and unknown, it was not likely remarkable or difficult to gather a group of them.

 

Entering into that scene they saw a poor child, a tired mother and father. They likely saw farm animals and perhaps efforts being made to keep mother and child warm. In short, human eyes could detect nothing out of the ordinary. God’s entry into the world was poor and humble. He did not reveal His glory.

 

But this was the moment of the first reaction of faith in the child who came to save the human race. Mary was always united to God because of her sinlessness. In that moment we can imagine her love for her child and for his divinity. The shepherds must have been pure of heart. We are told that notwithstanding the ordinariness of what they saw, they left and spread the word about what they had encountered. That moment with Jesus moved them to glorify and praise God. And of course, Blessed St. Joseph was there, quiet in his faith.

 

How well we can relate to the common and ordinary circumstances of Christ’s birth into our world. Our faith is challenged to go beyond what human eyes can see and ears can hear. We are called to join Mary and Joseph and the shepherds on the first night.

 

Just as for them, faith has been entrusted to us. We are to hold it, to use that faith to glorify God, and we are to transmit it to the world.

 

We are told that on that night the angels praised God for His glory and for the gift of peace given to the world. The message of Christmas is undying, even if it is not yet complete. Even today as the Holy Land is at the center of the world’s attention because of violence and hatred, the birth of Jesus gives hope to each of us and to the world. 

 

A Blessed Christmas to all!