This is the Holy Night. Our Lady is about to give birth to the Saviour of the world. The birth of Jesus would take place inside a cave in Bethlehem.
In the times of St Joseph and Mary it was not possible to book a room in advance or an Airbnb, so after a long and tiring journey along rough, unsealed roads, probably littered with animal dung, they arrive in Bethlehem to be enrolled in the census. However, after multiple requests at various places for accommodation, they experience rejection, no one is ready to welcome to Savior. Then, according to a tradition, poor shepherds pointed out a cave, used as a stable on the outskirts of town. It is there is abject poverty that God in His providence chose to be born. The greatest of prodigies took place around midnight, when Our Lady probably would have gone into a profound ecstasy and surrounded by divine light, the child was delivered by Angels. The Baby was placed in her hands by an Angel and She placed Him to suckle at Her breast, then laid Him in the manger. As Mary’s conception was miraculous, so would the birth of the child Jesus be, for Lady would remain a virgin, before, during and after the birth. It was winter in Bethlehem and the cave would have been freezing. The cold represented the coldness of hearts at the time who had distanced themselves from God. But Jesus came to undo the sin of Adam and Eve and to restore to us a graced relationship with the Lord, to open Heaven to us through His torturous death and eventually bring the Kingdom of the Divine Will, lost by Adam, again upon the earth.
The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus changed the course of history. All time is measured from the birth of our Savior. We say AD (meaning “Anno Domini”). BC refers to the period before Christ. As Christianity flourished amidst persecution, a new civilization quicky emerged. Hospitals were built, universities and religious orders sprung up and the Ten Commandments were imbedded in the Common Law of Christian countries. Even fierce barbarian tribes from the North were eventually converted.
From time to time however, when people drift away from God, war is permitted by the Lord as a punishment for sin. Peace on the other hand is a gift from the Lord. An amazing thing happened during the First World War in December 1914. A Christmas truce sprang up between the German, French and British troops in the trenches of France. It began with the Germans singing Christmas Carols, then shortly after the opposing sides joined in and not long after a friendly football game took place in no man’s land in the middle, and opposing troops who had cameras, took photos. From early January 1915, those photos began to be published in newspapers to the astonishment and disbelief of everyone.
Christmas is a time when bad feelings are forgotten and people reach out in love, thinking more about others than themselves. It is a wonderful time especially for children. We had an amazing Carol Service and Christmas Play at Immaculate Heart College this year. To see all the children enter into the spirit of Christmas, full of excitement and joy was great to see.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites were fed by God with “manna” in the desert. This bread would descend to earth in the middle of the night, around midnight. It was silent, hidden and was visible at sunrise. When the dew lifted, it would appear on the desert floor. The “manna” which fell at midnight foreshadowed the Baby Jesus, who was born around midnight and laid in the manger (a food trough), in the town of Bethlehem (meaning “house of bread”). Every Mass is like a mini-Bethlehem event, where Jesus is now born on the cold stone of an altar, rather than a cave, then He comes into our souls as nourishment in Holy Communion. Let’s be full of gratitude to the Lord for fulfilling His promises made through the Prophets of old. Let’s also hunger for the true and living Bread come down from Heaven to give life to our souls and make Holy Mass central to our lives. Have a Holy Christmas everyone!