Daily Retreat 12/25/08

2008 Dec 25 Thu: THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD S. Holy Day of Obligation. Midnight Mass: Is 9:1-6/Ps 95(96)/Ti 2:11-14/Lk 2:1-14. Mass at Dawn: Is 62:11-12/Ps 96(97)/Ti 3:4-7/Lk 2:15-20. Mass During the Day: Is 52:7-10/Ps 97(98)/Heb 1:1-6/Jn 1:1-18 From today's readings:  "Let us go to Bethlehem (the 'House of Bread') and see this Marvel which the Lord has made known to us!"     Did you ever, dear brothers, dear sisters, did you ever imagine what it must have been like, for those poor shepherds tending their flocks by night, to suddenly have that glorious angel appear to them, on a night that seemed like every other night, with those gladdest of all tidings, that unto us, this day, a Savior is born - 'tis Christ the Lord!  Oh, on that day, the lives of those blessed shepherds were changed forever - but not just their lives, for at that moment, time itself, and the entire cosmos swung on a pivot:  for the temporal created order was no longer B.C., "before Christ," rather it became all, it is all A.D. - "Anno Domini," in the year of our Lord! "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this Marvel which the Lord has made known to us!"     If you were one of those shepherds, my friends, could you stand even the diabolic thought of NOT going to Bethlehem, the dark curse of staying at home while all your neighbors were basking in the presence of the King of Kings?  Could you ever be content to gaze just from a distance at the Royal Light emanating from the city of David?  Would you close your ears and heart, tune out God's messenger and His message, and pack your mind and your life with crumpled newspapers of the weary news, business and sports of the day? "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this Marvel which the Lord has made known to us!"     When the shepherds arrived, they found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.  Not an infant sitting on a throne, surrounded by a suppliant court.  Not a toddler crying out efficacious commands to the elements.  A Babe, lying in a manger.  There was, in short, no proof for eyes unaided by faith that the Baby Boy was God made Man.  Divinity was wrapped in humanity - what a Marvel to behold!  What a glorious miracle to make even the coldest heart burn with the fire of faith!  Yes, how natural that you and I should envy those shepherds who beheld their salvation, as we bemoan our lot in this century.     And yet, fellow plainsmen, and yet....  Perhaps those blessed shepherds could envy you and me for the every-bit-as-miraculous a way that we behold our God.  It happened once two thousand years ago, and now, what if God sends His messenger to us today to proclaim tidings of great joy?  The Providential selection of this day, this very day, to be the pivot in our life!  Piercing the mundane darkness of a valley of tears with the light of the Glory of the Lord.  God made Man, and God the Man scourged, crucified, and kneaded into Food for the world.  Divinity wrapped in humanity, and Divine humanity in turn wrapped in the appearance of bread and wine.  The glorious miracle of Bethlehem, the "House of Bread," is incarnated anew today!  The Shepherds beheld a Babe, tucked in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.  And you and I, we behold a Host, tucked in the tabernacle, and lying on the Church's altar.  The blessed shepherds hurried to Bethlehem for a closer look, and they saw and understood what had been told them about this Child.  And you, my blessed friends, you too can hurry there every week, even every day, for a closer look, and then you will see and understand all that has been told to you about this Child. Come, dear friends, to Bethlehem - taste and see this Marvel which the Lord has made known to us!