We see the glory of God manifest to us today in a Little Child lying in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem. This scene fills our hearts with peace and joy. We draw hope from the scene before us.
What hearts are not happy when looking upon a new born baby? But it seems peculiar that we should find peace in looking upon this Baby, because He is born in the poorest of circumstances. He is in a stable lying in a manger. Our hearts should naturally be saddened by this image.
Who in this world likes to look upon the poor? This world strives to shut out the poor. The poor are a disgrace to any city, town or village. And those in authority do all they can to remove the poor from their sight. We try to send them away or provide someplace else for them to stay. We will do almost anything to remove them from our sight, because they are a disturbance to our worldly sense of peace and happiness. They cause sorrow because of their suffering and because it demands of us a sacrifice to come to their assistance. If we ignore them then we cannot be at peace because we are uncharitable and our conscience will continually tell us this. So we strive to hide and forget them.
This was the life that God chose to be in. He came to the poor; He came as a pauper Himself. He was despised and rejected by the world.
And yet, the angels sing. And all those who are poor in spirit sing with them. Christ our Saviour is born. He has become one of us to save us. He has become the least of us to save the lowliest of us.
The birth of this Child is the glory of God. We see the magnificence of God in doing great things from the least things. He turns all that is bad into good. The curse of poverty becomes a virtue and grace when willingly endured in imitation and for the love of Him. Hunger, thirst, nakedness, cold, heat, etc. all are transformed from physical evils into spiritual good with Him.
He has come to the lowliest place to carry all those lowly souls into the heights of Heaven. But, not all men will He lift up into Heaven. And therefore, not all have cause to be joyful or at peace. Only the few who cooperate with Him will have true joy and peace. The peace as the angels sing is "among men of good will". Those who are not of good will have nothing of this peace.
All of those who reject His teachings have rejected Him and are obviously not of good will. Those who reject or ignore His law: "What God has joined together let no man put asunder." i.e., those who are divorced and "re-married" living in adultery can have no true peace. All those who refuse union with His Church or refuse to eat His flesh in the Blessed Sacrament can have no true peace.
God is glorified but not all men will receive His peace. His peace is for those of good will, those who love Him. But who can love a poor man? Only the poor in spirit, only the humble, only those who cooperate with the grace of God, know His peace and joy.
Let us look into our hearts and see the poverty of our own souls. Let us see our helplessness and the need for His grace. As we are humbled and come to a true knowledge of ourselves then we begin to grow in the love and grace of God.
When we see our own spiritual poverty the physical poverty of the Christ Child ceases to be offensive. That which is naturally repulsive becomes supernaturally attractive.
The sinners who are of good will have cause to rejoice with the angels today. We are all sinners but we are not all of good will. We are not all filled with the love of God.
Let us dwell upon this beautiful scene of the poor Christ Child and all that He has suffered and be filled with compassion. Let us see that it is because of our sins that He suffered. Let us offer Him our love. As we grow in this love we will begin to see more and greater joy in this scene. And His mission will eventually become complete in us. And we too will sing with the angels: "Glory to God in the Highest!"
(From the Sermon Archive)