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Á¦¸ñ Our Lord Born in a Most Insignificant Manner(2019-12-25)
ÀÛ¼ºÀÚ °ü¸®ÀÚ ÀÛ¼ºÀÏ 2019-12-26



Our Lord Born in a Most Insignificant Manner(2019-12-25)


Let me be the first to wish you all a most Blessed Feast of Christmas! It is true that God often showers down His most special graces on the great feasts of the year, like today at the birth of the 2nd Person of the Blessed Trinity. Let us take full advantage of these special Christmas graces.


It is certainly true that Our Lord chose to be born of a young virgin, in a poor family in a most insignificant manner. The question is ¡°Why?  Why should God choose to be born into this world in such a strange manner? Surely it would be better to be born in the Emperor¡¯s house, in Rome (at that time capital of the world), to a famous king or queen, or at least to a very famous and well-known husband and wife?  But Our Lord did not choose that manner of entering into the world.


Why did Our Lord choose to be born in one of the smallest and forgotten towns in the Roman Empire? Why not, at least, Jerusalem?  Many people around the civilized world had heard of Jerusalem, but only a very small number of persons in the world knew the little town of Bethlehem! From all eternity, Our Lord chose to be born in Bethlehem to show us the example of humility. He would begin the work of the Redemption of all of Mankind through the virtue of humility. 


Yes, humility is the theme, the key to Our Lord¡¯s work of the salvation of souls. Remember, it was pride and vanity that caused the 1st Sin of the Angels, those who became fallen angels (devils) refused to serve God out of pride. It was pride and vanity that caused the 1st Sin of mankind, when Adam and Eve disobeyed the one command of God (not to eat the fruit of one tree). It is our pride that causes us to still sin against Our Lord when we would rather serve ourselves than serve Our Creator.
  

St Paul says, ¡°He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, even to the death of the Cross¡±. Yes, Our Lord was born in all humility so that He could die for us. The birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Bethlehem is truly a unique case¡¦where a baby is born into this world for the purpose of dying.


Not only does Our Lord choose to be born in Bethlehem, but also He chooses to be born in an animal shelter, a stable for livestock. Again we can see the wonderful example of humility and poverty in the Holy Family. How painful it must have been for St Joseph and the Blessed Virgin to be sent away from each hotel and inn that they tried to find a room at? Why did these persons refuse St Joseph and Our Lady? Surely, one reason was that the Holy Family was poor and they looked poor. No one was going to make money from having the Holy Family at their house or inn.


But there is another reason that they were sent away from the households of Bethlehem. Our Lady was close to Her time of delivering Her child. People could see that She was 9 months pregnant. Think of all the inconvenience and difficulty that people would have if they brought this woman into their homes and She began to deliver her child!?! The people of Bethlehem decided that it was too much work, or too inconvenient to have this problem. We can learn from their mistake¡¦for it is the same mistake that we so often make! We, too, reject Our Lady from bringing Our Lord to our souls¡¦because it would require some sacrifice, some hardship, some inconvenience! Let us not be like these hard-hearted people of Bethlehem, let us not turn away Our Lord and His parents when they wish to come and live within our souls by grace.
     

Conclusion: My dear faithful, as mentioned before, this Holy Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ is a day of many graces. Let us ask Our Lady and St Joseph to help us to welcome Our Lord into the poor stables of our souls. We have too often pushed away the Holy Family from our souls. We have too often left our souls dirty and preferred earthly creatures to the presence of Our Lord in Sanctifying Grace. Let us receive Our Lord¡¯s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in Holy Communion during the Sacrifice of the Mass and ask Our Lord always to stay with us and help us to grow in sanctity and virtue.
 

Fr. Patrick Summers(SSPXASIA)