Reflections On A Sunday Morning Before Christmas...!!!

At a recent weekend retreat attended by me and two of my sons, the retreat master suggested several ways to approach the reading of Holy Scripture...I shall share one of those methods with you today...!  

The suggestion was to place ourselves into a particular event depicted in Scripture...become a part of the actual story being told...so as to meditate on the dynamics being played out before us...  

I decided to enter into the whole mystery of the NATIVITY EVENT...THE BIRTH OF CHRIST...and so I would like to share some thoughts for us to reflect upon...  

My faith tells me that Jesus was Fully God and Fully Man...this means that for around nine months the God who created the universe from nothing dwelt in the womb of a Virgin called Mary...As God, He, more than any other being, has experienced the ultimate act of humility...and for nine months...As Man, He, more than any other, knew the pain and darkness and growing pangs, yes, and the comfort of the womb...no longer the safest place on earth...  

Let's fast forward to a couple of days before the actual birth of Jesus...  

Most Scripture scholars agree that the event of Jesus' birth actually probably occurred in the Spring...In a couple of days, the Creator of the Universe would be born into the world, thus sanctifying by His mere appearance on Earth everything and everyone that then existed...just think...the daffodils then blooming or preparing to bloom---specially honored...Do you think the sheep on the hills around Bethlehem got a little tingly as their very Creator was being born nearby...Meanwhile the Wise Men having already begun their Journey from a distant land making their way ever closer to Bethlehem...As the humble shepherds sensed by observing the behavior of their flocks and the prompting of nature all around them, that something truly profound was to take place this night...Yes, for at least a moment, there would be Peace on Earth...as the Prince of Peace, Himself, became one of us...Even the very stones would cry out had all this been kept a secret or these very events remained hidden from civilizations to come...  

Even the angels could not be contained as they expressed to the shepherds the 'glad tidings' of great joy which was to be for ALL PEOPLE...a message that would be repeated on many occasions by Jesus Himself, His Apostles and disciples, and faithful for two Millenia now...and all underscored by the greeting...BE NOT AFRAID...  

And so all from greatest to least were impacted...Wisest Men all the way down to shepherds at night...probably the least educated at the time...SHEPHERDS...certainly less skilled than carpenters, tent makers, inn keepers, fishermen, tax collectors, physicians, scribes, Rabbis, seers, etc...ordinary shepherds heralding once and forever the birth of THE GOOD SHEPHERD...it matters not WHEN it took place...what matters is THAT it took place...  

Mary's YES and her pondering all these things in her heart give us a clue into the greatest mystery on earth...And The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us!!! For God loved the world so much, that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have ETERNAL LIFE...!!!  

This is the promise of Christmas...!!!