Sunday, 25th December (Christmas A.)
The Word of God this Christmas Day gives us the option of choosing the readings according to the time of the celebration. I am going to keep the texts of the Midnight Mass, the Dawn Mass, and the Gospel according to Luke.
It tells of the decree of the Emperor Augustus, the registration of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus, how his mother lays him in a manger because they had no room in the inn, and the angel’s announcement to the shepherds.
The best commentary on the event is the one that each of us can make if we contemplate it carefully. Try to enter into the thoughts and feelings of Joseph, Mary, the shepherds… and the Son of God. How did they live that moment? What concerns would they have? What would their feelings be? What would they think of what the shepherds said to them? Let’s make an effort to contemplate the scene and try to live it up close…
The angel Gabriel had announced to them that the Child would be the Son of God, that he would occupy the throne of David, that his kingdom would have no end… The prophet Isaiah (1st reading) tells us that “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light because a child has been born to us”. How do the prophecies about this child fit in with what they were experiencing?
A night of contrasts. In the simplest of things, the greatest of things is manifested. God wants his Son to be born poor, seeking shelter. He is God made man like us. And if there is no room in the inn, he looks for it in the hearts of people of good will. Will he find it in mine?
May you have a happy Christmas. The one he gives us if we receive him in our hearts.
Juan Ramón Gómez Pascual, cmf
In the simplest of things the great is made manifest
