When I was
younger, I always felt something different about this night, yet, it wasn’t the
anticipation of presents, nor was it the gathering of family, as great as that
was, it was something else, it was something more. In fact, I remember I would
be sitting in the back of the car, coming from or going to one of the
grandmother’s houses and on the radio the song “Do you Hear what I Hear?” would
be playing and I would think to myself this song perfectly encapsulates this
night.
I remember I would then look up to the sky, and if it wasn’t snowing, raining or overcast, I would see the stars in their radiant beauty and be reminded of the star that led the Magi to Bethlehem. To me, they would embody the feeling of this night, and then, almost inevitably, on the radio “Silent Night” would play and a peace would fill my heart, a peace would fill my soul, and I would feel that peace the entire night.
While, at the time, I had no idea of the rich history behind those carols, that one was written during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and another was sung in 1914, during WWI, resulting in British and German troops calling a cease fire, if only for a night, at the time those songs encapsulated, as they still do, what this night truly means.
I remember I would then look up to the sky, and if it wasn’t snowing, raining or overcast, I would see the stars in their radiant beauty and be reminded of the star that led the Magi to Bethlehem. To me, they would embody the feeling of this night, and then, almost inevitably, on the radio “Silent Night” would play and a peace would fill my heart, a peace would fill my soul, and I would feel that peace the entire night.
While, at the time, I had no idea of the rich history behind those carols, that one was written during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and another was sung in 1914, during WWI, resulting in British and German troops calling a cease fire, if only for a night, at the time those songs encapsulated, as they still do, what this night truly means.
As I got older I
came up with a theory, and that theory was what those songs were trying to
convey, that this night is different, because that night was different.
A child was not just born into the world, with accompanying signs, a child was born into the world and, by His birth, transformed that world, so that the world would never be the same again, which is why the world, the entire universe, pauses, this night, it adores that child, as it did the very first time, which is why what we feel is more than silence, more than peace, it is reverence, it is the universe, literally, bowing again before its Creator, recognizing and instilling within us not just a sense of peace, but a night when we, too, fall upon our knees and hear the angels’ voices.
And, because He changed the world, because the greatest miracle of the world occurred on that night, what to us may have seemed insignificant, or even uncharitable, was, in fact, all a part of God’s plan.
From the very beginning, this is clear. Jesus, was born in the city of David, in a little town called Bethlehem, and He was laid in a manger because there was no room at the Inn.
We hear this so often that it might not mean much, but each of these details are incredibly important. A manger is a feeding trough for animals, and hay was put into that manger not to be his mattress but as food for those animals.
The town was Bethlehem, a Hebrew word that means “House of Bread,” and David was a king, which means then that Jesus, was born as a king, laid in a feeding trough in a town that is known as the “House of Bread.”
So, from His very first moment on this earth, Jesus wanted to feed us, He was born to feed us, feeding us first with His Word, which we just heard, and then again with the Eucharist, the true bread from Heaven, which we will receive shortly.
Christmas then is more than just the gifts that we receive and the gifts that we give, Christmas is a celebration of that gift that was laid in a manger for us.
And while that gift wasn’t wrapped in fancy paper with a bow, while that gift wasn’t the latest and greatest thing, only to be forgotten the next year, while that gift wasn’t expensive, it costs more than any gift we could buy, because that gift was wrapped in swaddling clothes and came to give us the greatest gift of all, the gift of Himself to us.
A child was not just born into the world, with accompanying signs, a child was born into the world and, by His birth, transformed that world, so that the world would never be the same again, which is why the world, the entire universe, pauses, this night, it adores that child, as it did the very first time, which is why what we feel is more than silence, more than peace, it is reverence, it is the universe, literally, bowing again before its Creator, recognizing and instilling within us not just a sense of peace, but a night when we, too, fall upon our knees and hear the angels’ voices.
And, because He changed the world, because the greatest miracle of the world occurred on that night, what to us may have seemed insignificant, or even uncharitable, was, in fact, all a part of God’s plan.
From the very beginning, this is clear. Jesus, was born in the city of David, in a little town called Bethlehem, and He was laid in a manger because there was no room at the Inn.
We hear this so often that it might not mean much, but each of these details are incredibly important. A manger is a feeding trough for animals, and hay was put into that manger not to be his mattress but as food for those animals.
The town was Bethlehem, a Hebrew word that means “House of Bread,” and David was a king, which means then that Jesus, was born as a king, laid in a feeding trough in a town that is known as the “House of Bread.”
So, from His very first moment on this earth, Jesus wanted to feed us, He was born to feed us, feeding us first with His Word, which we just heard, and then again with the Eucharist, the true bread from Heaven, which we will receive shortly.
Christmas then is more than just the gifts that we receive and the gifts that we give, Christmas is a celebration of that gift that was laid in a manger for us.
And while that gift wasn’t wrapped in fancy paper with a bow, while that gift wasn’t the latest and greatest thing, only to be forgotten the next year, while that gift wasn’t expensive, it costs more than any gift we could buy, because that gift was wrapped in swaddling clothes and came to give us the greatest gift of all, the gift of Himself to us.
And that gift is
what these songs are all about, that gift is why this night is so different, that
gift is what we will receive tonight from that altar, Christ Himself, the same
little child from Bethlehem.
Therefore, then, let us with the angels and archangels celebrate this night when it all began, singing their triumphant hymn of praise “Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth,” because tonight, on this holy night, on this sacred night, in the city of David a savior, our savior, has, indeed, been born, He who is Christ the Lord, the Prince of Peace, our God, our Eucharist, indeed, our gift to the entire world.
Therefore, then, let us with the angels and archangels celebrate this night when it all began, singing their triumphant hymn of praise “Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth,” because tonight, on this holy night, on this sacred night, in the city of David a savior, our savior, has, indeed, been born, He who is Christ the Lord, the Prince of Peace, our God, our Eucharist, indeed, our gift to the entire world.
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