St. Josemaría Escrivá encouraged us to move from the Trinity on earth to the Trinity in heaven. This is particularly easy to do at Christmas. He encouraged us - pushed us - to enter the stable. We can imagine him-and other saints-telling us, like the first shepherds in Bethlehem: "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And we read: "They ran and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger.".
The saints and angels in heaven celebrate in the presence of the Trinity and we find the Holy Family, the trinity on earth, with the divine Son in their midst.
At least for tonight, the gulf between heaven and earth disappears. Heaven descends to us and finds itself in human poverty.
St. Joseph, strong but kind, invites us to enter. And we are overwhelmed by Mary's smile, her beauty and her tenderness, towards the Child and towards us.
It is beautiful to see St. Faustina, apostle of Divine Mercy, also enter spiritually into the stable in Bethlehem. Surprisingly, she often saw the Child Jesus at Mass. In her diary she describes an event of Christmas 1937.
"When I came to Midnight Mass, once Holy Mass had begun, I immersed myself in a deep recollection in which I saw the portal of Bethlehem filled with great clarity. The Blessed Virgin was wrapping Jesus in swaddling clothes, absorbed in great love; St. Joseph, on the other hand, was still asleep. Only when Our Lady placed Jesus in the manger did the divine light awaken Joseph, who also began to pray. A moment later, however, I was alone with the little Jesus, who stretched out his little hands towards me, and I understood that it was so that I could take him in my arms. Jesus held his little head close to my heart and with a deep look he made me understand that it was all right. At that moment Jesus disappeared and the bell rang for Holy Communion." (Journal, 1442).
Jesus makes himself present as a child also in the Mass. He makes himself present to those who become like children. This year and always, we learn from children to live Christmas. And we learn from Christmas to live as children, which is not something optional, but essential for our salvation: "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Homily on the readings of the Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
