Mary and Joseph have not been asked to walk an easy path. They have had to wrestle with the unknown, travel to a distant land, be denied a clean and warm place to stay and give birth, and make use of an animals’ feeding trough for their Child’s first bed. The King of the Universe is reduced to living at the level of an animal.
The shepherds, who in the eyes of observant Jews already live almost at the level of an animal, are blessed by an angelic Christmas concert and sent to be the first witnesses of this earth-shattering event: they rush to find Christ with his humble parents and enter the first Christian church. They then went and told others this amazing story, glorifying and praising God for this mysterious fulfillment of God’s Promise. Did others rush to see for themselves? The Gospel does not tell us. We only know that the shepherds were amazed.
It does tell us something subtle that reveals the inner workings of the heart of our Mother and the Mother of God: “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” God did not reveal to Mary or Joseph a step-by-step plan for how they were to bring the Messiah into the world, or teach the One through Whom all things were made about the world, or raise the One Who called the Chosen People and gave them the Law how to live within the Law of the Chosen People. They had to walk day by day in faith, without any bullet points or instructions, except those revealed to them in the depths of their obedient hearts (and sometimes in a dream). It was with loving trust that Mary held all that happened in her heart, observing the workings of God, repeating her fiat in every moment and never drawing back from it, even when it was hard to understand, even when it was difficult and painful.
Today, as we lift our prayers in honor of Mary, the Mother of God, on the eighth day of the Eight Days of Christmas, let us ask her to help us ponder God’s action in our hearts with the same loving obedience and trust. Let us ask her to help us be as eager as the shepherds to gather around the manger near her and St. Joseph, to receive the warm light of God’s gentle love. And let us ask her to be a mother to each of us, as Christ gave us his own Mother as his last gift from the Cross.
Daily Reading
Christmas Weekday
Reading 1 1 John 2:29–3:6 If you consider that God is righteous, you also know that everyone who acts in righteousness is begotten by him. See what love the Father…
Saint of the Day
Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
The Feast of the Holy Name celebrates Jesus’ name, meaning “Yahweh is salvation,” and emphasizes continuous veneration and love for the Savior.
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