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A painting by Corregio of the Nativity with the shepherds. Corregio so beautifully shows the warmth and love of Mary as the Mother of God and our mother as well, given to us by Christ Himself on the Cross (John 19:27), the supreme sacrifice that saved us from our sins and opened the gates of Heaven for us.  Since
the star first appeared on Christmas day, the Magi studied and prepared for the long arduous journey and are on their way from Arabia to pay homage to the Christ child while the poor shepherds, invited by a host of angels, were the
first to arrive and adore Him a few hours after the Redeemer’s birth. Above is the Journey of the Magi by Tissot. During the Middle Ages up to the Renaissance the Christian culture in Europe produced a proliferation of art that depicted images inspired by the Bible. Stained
glass windows in churches and paintings were also used as teaching aids in catechizing and inspiring illiterate people with the true, the good, and the
beautiful. Today most European countries
are very secular. These two paintings
demonstrate that the Son of God came for both Jew and gentile, rich and poor,
educated and illiterate. The birth of Christ was
an obscure event that no one knew at the time except for a few poor shepherds
and a group of wise men from the East.
Yet this event was so momentous that it changed history…….even dividing
the measurement of historical and current time into B.C. (years before Christ)
and A.D. (years after Christ’s birth).
Actually scholars believe that the actual birth occurred in 3-4
B.C. It was a central event in the history
of mankind. Magnificent churches and
exquisite works of art pay tribute to Him.
Why did the Nativity have such great significance and importance in both
world history and salvation history? We
have to go back to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2 & 3 as a starting point for
understanding why.
The
Garden of Eden. God intended that each person occupy Paradise for a period
of time as a test and preparation for Heaven; then at death there would be a
seamless transition to Heaven. God
clearly forbade Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. According to St. Pope John Paul II, the Lord
used that tree as a test of obedience and to show He is God and they are
creatures. God warned Adam and Eve that disobedience
would mean death. However, the serpent
said to Eve “No, you shall not die; for God knows that when you eat of it, your
eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” They did eat of the apple and God expelled
them from Paradise.
Adam
and Eve had a close and special relationship with God and direct communication
with Him. Thus giving in to the
serpent’s temptation was a betrayal.
What made their sin even more grave was that they did not believe God,
but believed the devil (Do we do the same?); they did not trust God; they
wanted to be like God, (i.e., little gods).
They were not satisfied to be created according to His image and
likeness. They doubted God’s word that
they would die by eating the fruit, looking upon Him as a liar. They said no to God; they rejected Him; they
turned away from their Creator and what is right. That defines serious sin. It was blatant disobedience, a direct affront
against God.
An image of Adam and Eve being evicted…….described in the epic poem, “Paradise Lost” in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674).
As a result, the gates of Heaven were
closed. By inheritance and association
as descendants of Adam and Eve, every person (except Mary and her Son) is
conceived with a stigma as a member of the human family. This we call Original Sin which causes
a separation from God and a tendency to sin (concupiscence)…….Adam and Eve’s
legacy to us.
However, in His mercy God left humanity with hope. He promised to send a Redeemer…….“I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman (Mary), between your offspring and hers; He (Christ) will strike at your head while you strike at his heel” (Gen 3:15). Only the Son of God could make reparation for the great sin of Adam and Eve and the sins of their descendants in order to open the gates of Heaven for humanity if we repent and follow Him.
The 4000 Year Wait.
During that time fallen man in a fallen world groped in the dark. “In the sweat of thy brow, you shall eat bread”
(Genesis 3:19). and child bearing would be painful. Earth was a dark place. Only the Jews believed in the one true God;
the rest practiced some form of idol worship.
There was human sacrifice to these false gods, who often were demons. Even the Romans placed little value upon
human life. If a Roman woman did not
want her infant baby, she would simply trash him or her. Later Christians buried many of them with
dignity as they do today with abandoned aborted babies.
The Promise of the Old
Testament. Even God’s chosen people, the Jews often fell into corruption, sin,
and some idol worship. God raised up
prophets, who often prophesized the coming of the Redeemer, particularly Isaiah,
Zechariah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Malachi, David, and Nathan. He was to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem in
the line of David (from Abraham to St. Joseph in Matthew 1:1-17). Mankind waited 4000 years for God to fulfill
His promise. During Advent we try to
relive those 4000 years of salvation history.
Each Sunday symbolizes 1000 years as we wait with joyful anticipation
for Christmas, preparing our hearts for the Savior’s coming by extra prayer,
spiritual reading, and sacrifice as well as an Advent Confession. Do more reading of the Bible……..the most read
book of all time
The Fulfillment of the Promise in the New Testament. The sin of
Adam and Eve was so grave that only the Son of God, the King of the Universe
could make adequate satisfaction and reparation for that most grievous sin and
all sins past, present, and future by sacrificing Himself and thus open the
gates of Heaven for us. This bloody
sacrifice on the cross as well as the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass that makes
Calvary present are sources of much grace that saves us from our sins. The Redemption made the sacraments possible as
fountains of grace and freedom from the bondage of sin if we accept and follow
Christ. “God so loved the world that He
gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but
might have eternal life” (John 3:16).
That was His greatest gift, the ultimate gift out of infinite love, for which we should be
eternally grateful.
In
the fullness of time, God sent the Archangel Gabriel to make a startling
announcement to a simple 14 year old virgin.
God asked Mary to be the vehicle in bringing Christ to us in her
womb. In Luke 1:38 Mary gave her fiat or
YES (“Be it done to me according to thy word”) and at that moment
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin. “The word was made flesh and He dwelt among
us!” (John 1:14).
An icon of the
Visitation of Mary to St. Elizabeth
For the next 9 months He dwelled in the womb of Mary, the same
as we dwelled in the wombs of our mothers, giving women special dignity. That makes the womb of every woman a sacred
place, intended to be a secure dwelling of a beautiful human being…….not to be
violated and defiled by abortion. When
Mary visited her cousin, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy at the
coming of the Savior (Luke 1:44), showing that in utero the unborn has a
certain sensitivity to what’s going on outside, a beautiful testimony for life
in the womb. See the Appendix for the beautiful canticle that
Mary shared with Elizabeth, the “Magnificat”. It links the Old and the New Testaments
together.
The
second person of the Holy Trinity became the God-man, visible as one of us. That makes it easier for us to identify with
Him and imitate Christ as advocated by St. Thomas à Kempis in his book, “The
Imitation of Christ”. Christ’s
taking on our human nature gives us tremendous dignity from the womb to the
tomb to eternity.
The Son of God, the almighty King
of the Universe, stooped down with infinite humility to become one of us,
first as a helpless baby dependent upon Mary and Joseph, experiencing the
common hardships of daily life. God sent
a chorus of angels to make the joyful announcement to the poor shepherds. They were the first to come and adore Him,
demonstrating that Christ humbly identifies Himself with the Jews, the poor, and
the illiterate.
At
the same time God was leading a caravan of Magi by means of a celestial phenomenon
as prophesized in Numbers 24:17, either the convergence of three planets, a super
nova, a comet, or an angel. In any
event it was a visible manifestation of the divine majesty……..showing that
Christ also came to redeem the gentiles, the affluent, and the educated. May the Muslims of the Middle East follow the
Magi to Christ and the Church. May the
Eucharist transform us as visiting the Christ child transformed them. In addition the Church He founded was to have
a tremendous affect upon civilization (See Thomas E. Woods’ “How the Catholic
Church Built Western Civilization”).
Jesus grew in “wisdom and age and favor before
God and man” (Luke 2:52)” and finally at the age of 30 was ready to begin His
great mission, the reason for the incarnation, to teach us how to live and save
us from our sins. His ultimate sacrifice with immense suffering on the
cross made reparation for all the sins of the world and thus opened the gates of Heaven and gave eternal life to those that follow His teaching. That’s why the birth of Christ (Christmas) is so important and
significant. Finally, the 4000 year long
wait for the Redeemer is over. The Old Testament is full of prophecies of the
Redeemer and the New Testament is the fulfillment. Emmanuel (God with us) has come! Rejoice!
Alleluia! Messianic Jews rejoice;
Orthodox Jews are still waiting. And don’t forget; He is also with us in the
Eucharist.
May
you receive many blessings, joy, and inner peace that only God can bring. May Christmas bring you healing and reconciliation
in your relationships. May it be full of
hope and gladness. Merry Christmas, NOT
Happy Holidays. Let’s not forget the
reason for the season. PUT CHRIST BACK
INTO CHRISTMAS…….in your home, on the job, in the community, and in all of your
relationships.
“Let
the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand.
Let
the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness.
Let
the pagan take courage as he is summoned to eternal life.”
APPENDIX
 The Magnificat
The Prayer Of Mary
My
soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for
he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From
this day all generations will call me blessed:
the
Almighty has done great things for me,
and
holy is his Name.
He
has mercy on those who fear him
in
every generation.
He
has shown the strength of his arm,
he
has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He
has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and
has lifted up the lowly.
He
has filled the hungry with good things,
and
the rich he has sent away empty.
He
has come to the help of his servant Israel
for
he remembered his promise of mercy,
the
promise he made to our fathers,
to
Abraham and his children forever.
(Lk
1:46-55)
Magnificat
anima mea Dominum;
Et
exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo,
Quia
respexit humilitatem ancillae suae; ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes
generationes.
Quia
fecit mihi magna qui potens est, et sanctum nomen ejus, Et misericordia ejus a
progenie in progenies timentibus eum.
Fecit
potentiam brachio suo;
Dispersit
superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit
potentes de sede, et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes
implevit bonis, et divites dimisit inanes.
Sucepit
Israel, puerum suum, recordatus misericordiae suae, Sicut locutus est ad patres
nostros, Abraham et semeni ejus in
saecula.
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