Our Lady of Guadalupe

Date: December, 25

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. ~Luke 2:1–7

The Nativity of Our Lord celebrates the point in history when the Son of God became Man for our Salvation – an act of loving obedience to the Father, and saving love for us, that will culminate on the Cross.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8. 

The story of Christmas is captured in the nativity scene displays you see during the Christmas season.  More than 2,000 years ago, Jesus’ mother, Mary, and her husband, Joseph, traveled to Bethlehem and needed a place to stay for the night.  There was no room for them at the inn, so they stayed in a stable nearby.  Jesus was born there, and Mary placed him in a manger.

The Gospel tells us that angels shared the Good News of Jesus’ birth with shepherds who were watching their flocks that night. The shepherds hurried to the stable to see Jesus.

Later, a group of wise men, or magi, were led by a star to Jesus. They offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

During the Christmas Season we can all take some time to reflect on the birth of Jesus and the great love God showed us by sending his son to earth.  We can follow the example of the magi and shepherds by welcoming Jesus into our lives.

“For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord”. Luke 2:11

Christmas Season

The greatest feasts, like Christmas and Easter, have liturgical seasons dedicated to them. Christmas is preceded by the Season of Advent, a time of preparation, and the celebration of the Nativity itself is extended in the Christmas Season. This season begins on Christmas Eve, as Catholics rejoice in the Lord’s Birth on December 25th, and extends to the Baptism of the Lord, on the Sunday after the Epiphany.

Beginning on Christmas Day, eight days are dedicated to an Octave of Christmas, after the Jewish pattern for the greatest feasts. During this octave the Feast of the Holy Family is celebrated, and it culminates in the honoring of Mary as the Mother of God on January 1st.

The cost of salvation and discipleship is never out of sight, however, during the Octave. The Church recalls the Holy Innocents, killed by Herod in a frantic search for the Messiah, and the proto-martyr Stephen, killed as Saul, later St. Paul, encouraged it.

Finally, the Christmas Season concludes by looking forward to the Public Life and Ministry of Jesus, with the Solemnity of the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord. These events, which mark “manifestations” of Christ’s divinity, serve as bookends to His hidden life from infancy to the inauguration of His public ministry.

During this season, we celebrate the birth of Christ into our world and into our hearts, and reflect on the gift of salvation that is born with him…including the fact that he was born to die for us. Every Eucharist is like Christmas where the bread and wine are transformed into His flesh, His Body and Blood, and, in a sense, He is born anew on the altar. 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” John 1: 1,14

PRAYER:

Most Holy Savior of the World, You are the Light that scattered the darkness. You chose to be born in the most humble conditions, elevating humility as a means of great holiness.

As we celebrate Your birth, I pray that You will also be born in my life, and through me, into the world. May this Christmas be a time in which I come to know You more fully and intimately, joining the shepherds in their adoration of You, so that I can share in the abundant new life You came to bestow. Holy Savior, have mercy on me. Jesus, I trust in You.