Words are
powerful, and with them we have the ability to touch, to heal, to incite, to
convert, to inspire, and though powerful they are still limited. However, when
God speaks, something different happens, in fact, in the Book of Genesis, God
simply says: “let there be light,” and there was light. When God speaks the
Word becomes real, when God speaks the Word becomes flesh.
In fact, when I speak God’s words upon that altar, the Bread becomes the Body and the Wine becomes the blood, I speak and it happens, not by my own power but by the power of my ordination, by the power that God has given me to make and to do what only He can do, cause a miracle to occur daily.
Yet, that is what celebrate today, the greatest, most profound and most amazing miracle of them all, when the Word became flesh, when God became man, and not just man, but humbled Himself to become a little child.
That is why the world today, if even temporarily, becomes different and the feeling in the air is different, because it recalls that time when a child was born, but not just any child, the very king of the universe. And, when the creator of the universe enters the universe, it must bow before its creator, it must reflect that cosmic moment of peace.
Yet, it is even more than peace, it is reverence, which is why time and again, we are invited, during this Christmas season, to fall on our knees and to hear the angels’ voices, because everything today is made holy, marking the very first time someone knelt before Jesus to adore Him, but He wasn’t in a monstrance on an altar, or in a tabernacle on a stand, He was wrapped in a blanket in a manger.
And, that is what we feel, the same feeling we may get when we walk into a Church, that feeling of peace, of serenity, that desire to pray. Yet, when it happens beyond a Church, when it transforms a night, a day, a season, it changes everything and that feeling permeates everything throughout the world.
That is why even a star became a lighted path in the darkness of night to lead the shepherds to Him. A star that invites us to do the same, to kneel before this Christ child, to adore Him, as countless people have done from that very first Christmas night to this day, to this season that begins here.
Perhaps, since we are used to the image, it doesn’t mean much, but it is not common for someone to kneel before a baby or to bring gifts that the baby can’t use, as it were, unless that baby is special, unless that baby is God.
For, this is what Christmas is all about, this is what has been romanticized, made into songs, poems, books and art, not the presents, not the trees, not the light, but the manger, the Nativity, the birth of our Lord and Savior.
Because, typically, when a child is born, that child changes the entire life of the family that it is born to, however, when this child was born, He didn’t just change an entire family, He changed the entire world, us included. In fact, this little child has done more to and for the world, than any other person throughout history who, though born over 2,000 years ago, still has an impact upon us even today.
And, if we think about it, while shepherds, Magi, Mary and St. Joseph knelt before Him, throughout the ages, spiritually speaking, everyone from popes, to saints, to kings, to queens, to princes, to composers, artists to poets and many others have knelt before Him, drawn inspiration from Him, and have adored this tiny child.
This is why, even beyond the reverence, there is incredible joy, because the sacrifice of Christ wasn’t just upon the cross, it started when He entered our world, for He didn’t need to become a little child, He didn’t need to lay His head in a manger, a feeding trough for animals, He didn’t need for everyone to reject Mary and St. Joseph, leading them to a cave, He didn’t need to run away from Herod in the desert and He even didn’t need to be born at all.
Yet, in His greatest act of humility, He allowed all of that, so that He laid His head on the wood of the manger, which led Him to lay His head on the wood of the cross. Taking all of our sins, redeeming our souls, and opening Heaven for all of us, and He did so, by allowing Himself to become that tiny child, the same whom we should adore now, “Because today in the city of David a savior is born,” reborn, in our hearts, Christ the Lord, our Wonder-Counselor, our God-Hero, our Father-Forever and, indeed, our Prince of Peace.
In fact, when I speak God’s words upon that altar, the Bread becomes the Body and the Wine becomes the blood, I speak and it happens, not by my own power but by the power of my ordination, by the power that God has given me to make and to do what only He can do, cause a miracle to occur daily.
Yet, that is what celebrate today, the greatest, most profound and most amazing miracle of them all, when the Word became flesh, when God became man, and not just man, but humbled Himself to become a little child.
That is why the world today, if even temporarily, becomes different and the feeling in the air is different, because it recalls that time when a child was born, but not just any child, the very king of the universe. And, when the creator of the universe enters the universe, it must bow before its creator, it must reflect that cosmic moment of peace.
Yet, it is even more than peace, it is reverence, which is why time and again, we are invited, during this Christmas season, to fall on our knees and to hear the angels’ voices, because everything today is made holy, marking the very first time someone knelt before Jesus to adore Him, but He wasn’t in a monstrance on an altar, or in a tabernacle on a stand, He was wrapped in a blanket in a manger.
And, that is what we feel, the same feeling we may get when we walk into a Church, that feeling of peace, of serenity, that desire to pray. Yet, when it happens beyond a Church, when it transforms a night, a day, a season, it changes everything and that feeling permeates everything throughout the world.
That is why even a star became a lighted path in the darkness of night to lead the shepherds to Him. A star that invites us to do the same, to kneel before this Christ child, to adore Him, as countless people have done from that very first Christmas night to this day, to this season that begins here.
Perhaps, since we are used to the image, it doesn’t mean much, but it is not common for someone to kneel before a baby or to bring gifts that the baby can’t use, as it were, unless that baby is special, unless that baby is God.
For, this is what Christmas is all about, this is what has been romanticized, made into songs, poems, books and art, not the presents, not the trees, not the light, but the manger, the Nativity, the birth of our Lord and Savior.
Because, typically, when a child is born, that child changes the entire life of the family that it is born to, however, when this child was born, He didn’t just change an entire family, He changed the entire world, us included. In fact, this little child has done more to and for the world, than any other person throughout history who, though born over 2,000 years ago, still has an impact upon us even today.
And, if we think about it, while shepherds, Magi, Mary and St. Joseph knelt before Him, throughout the ages, spiritually speaking, everyone from popes, to saints, to kings, to queens, to princes, to composers, artists to poets and many others have knelt before Him, drawn inspiration from Him, and have adored this tiny child.
This is why, even beyond the reverence, there is incredible joy, because the sacrifice of Christ wasn’t just upon the cross, it started when He entered our world, for He didn’t need to become a little child, He didn’t need to lay His head in a manger, a feeding trough for animals, He didn’t need for everyone to reject Mary and St. Joseph, leading them to a cave, He didn’t need to run away from Herod in the desert and He even didn’t need to be born at all.
Yet, in His greatest act of humility, He allowed all of that, so that He laid His head on the wood of the manger, which led Him to lay His head on the wood of the cross. Taking all of our sins, redeeming our souls, and opening Heaven for all of us, and He did so, by allowing Himself to become that tiny child, the same whom we should adore now, “Because today in the city of David a savior is born,” reborn, in our hearts, Christ the Lord, our Wonder-Counselor, our God-Hero, our Father-Forever and, indeed, our Prince of Peace.
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