Dec. 25, 2013: Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord (Christmas)
Click to hear "O Holy Night"
When you were a child, did you ever have a lemonade stand? Did you earn a lot of money? Where did you spend the money you earned? Recently, I heard news of a parishioner from my first parish assignment. A few years ago when I first met her, she wanted to receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick because she was taking chemo treatment for her cancer. A year after that I saw her with a baby girl she had adopted.That baby girl is now 4 years old. A few days ago the little girl wanted set up a lemonade stand in front of her house. Although the little girl insisted that she wasn’t charging anything, people gave her money anyway. By the time she closed her stand, she had $8.00. When her dad, who is a physician, got home, he asked her how she was going to spend the money. Without any prompting, she said she was going to give it to the poor. The daddy, teasing with her, said, “you could give it to me, your daddy is poor.” She answered, “No, daddy. You are not poor because you have people who love you.”
When the Christ Child from the manger looks into your eyes, what does he see in you? Does he see your hopes, your joys, and your gratitude? Does he also see your sorrows, your fears, and your anxieties? You may think you have everything just right, but is there still a part of you that feels poor--not having enough, not appreciated, not loved. Despite our attempts to hide it, in truth, we all are poor in some way.
God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son. He saw our poverty. By coming in poverty, Jesus made us aware of our own riches. What are our own riches--how much we are loved by Heavenly Father. How does the Christ Child’s gaze penetrate our heart just as that 4 yr. old’s remark touched our hearts. A traditional Welsh lullaby ("Suo Gan") tells this profound mystery in simple words:
Holy Savior, yet so tiny
mighty ruler, yet so small.
Infant lowly, born so humbly
yet redeemer, of us all.
Now the angels sing to greet thee
God is with us, here on earth.
With the shepherds and the wisemen
Come to see his Holy Birth.
Holy Jesus, in a manger
little baby in a stall.
Infant holy, God's Messiah
Born to suffer, for us all
Angels bending o’er the cradle
God's anointed from on high
Blessed Mary watches o'er you
Singing sweetly lullaby.
Blessed Mary watches o'er you
Singing sweetly lullaby.
