The Holy Family: place where love is always a gift of himself

Sunday between the eighth of Christmas - The Holy Family of Nazareth - year A - December 28, 2025

 READINGS: Sir 3, 3-7.14-17a; Col 3, 12-21; Ps 128; Mt 2, 13-15. 19-23

 

              1) The extraordinary becomes ordinary and teaches us to make the ordinary extraordinary.

       Just under a week ago, we celebrated the extraordinary nature of the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, the Liturgy makes us celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph to help us live our daily life in an extraordinary way. The way to make "heroic" (word that I would like to be understood and used as a synonym for "saint") is to learn from the Family of Nazareth, meditating on the three components of this "true" (another adjective that should be used as a synonym for "saint") family unit.

 Let us start with Joseph, the descendant of David, the just man. Thanks to him "the mystery of the Incarnation and that of the Holy Family are deeply inscribed in the spousal love of man and woman and indirectly in the genealogy of every human family" (St. John Paul II).

 In Matthew's Gospel it is Joseph who receives the will of God through the angel and fulfills it. Joseph is the true (in the sense of lawful and saint) head of the family. The gospel always presents him as the obedient and silent man. "One who does not preach, does not speak, but tries to do the will of God; and he does it in the style of the Gospel and the Beatitudes:" Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs "(Mt 5: 3) ) "(Pope Francis December 22, 2019). He does what he is told. His is not servile obedience, but a free, courageous and responsible choice, not without risks, dangers, doubts and fear of the unknown. Saint Joseph is aware that the people entrusted to him, the Guardian of the Redemption, are not his property. Jesus and Mary belong to God, but they are entrusted to him to take care of them, protect them and guard them. This righteous man fulfills this task with faithful love, trusting totally and only in God and sacrificing his own legitimate personal aspirations. His obedience to God is fully free and happy thanks to the joy of the gift. It is by giving that you receive. Joseph understood it well and for love of Mary and Jesus is willing to pay any price. Joseph is the man who knows how to translate obedience to God into a song of love and freedom.

Let us now turn the eyes of the heart to Mary. Matthew's gospel presents the Mother of Jesus as a silent and at the same time always attentive and caring mother. Those repeated words "the child and his mother" tell us that Mary was always beside Jesus. Mary is the fertile ground that has welcomed the Son of God. As Virgin Mother, she has a very special relationship with that child who is her God. A motherly love relationship that is a sword that pierces. That this love is like a sword was revealed to her by the prophet Simeon on the day of Jesus' presentation in the Temple: "A sword will pierce your soul". Love is a sword, and Christ was a sword for his Mother even before he was born. Who does not remember the drama evoked at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, the drama of human love, the great drama of the infinite silence that follows the announce when, after receiving Mary’s yes, the Angel left her alone in the modest house in Nazareth, in silence. Our Lady can only remain enclosed in her silence, because the secret she carries within her is the secret of God. The Virgin of Nazareth has become, in fact, the "Mother of God".

     "Therefore, in Mary, Mother of God, every woman sees her face mirrored. In her she sees her perfection realized, the perfection of what" is characteristic of a woman ", of 'what is feminine' (Saint John of God). A special way of loving and being loved by God, a vocation that a woman realizes both in virginity and in motherhood. Mary is the Mother of God without ceasing to be a servant, she is close to her son and with faith and love she loves him not only as a son, but as her God. Without exhausting the mystery, Mary is always beside her son. With the eyes she sees him as a child, in her heart she contemplates him as God. All this also happens to her in the suffering of fear and in the pain of exile. In the warm of this human and supernatural love, Maria also lives her marital relationship with Joseph. A special relationship, of course, but always deeply human, made up of looks, affections, silences and lots of love. Mary does what Joseph tells her to do, without prevaricating. In Matthew's gospel, the will of God is manifested to her through the relationship of communion with her spouse. We can read an expression of this profound relationship between the two in Gospel of Luke, when Mary says to Jesus: "Your father and I grieved were looking for you". It is in pain that feelings are refined and consolidated.

 

 

2) Jesus ​​is watched by Mary, by Joseph and by each of us.

     Let us now look at Jesus with the eyes of Mary and Joseph.

     Close to each other, Mary and Joseph look at Jesus smiling and thoughtfully: he is a fragile child, but gorgeous as every child is for his parents. In that fragility, which becomes tenderness, they glimpse the mystery of God's tenderness. Jesus is in the heart of the history of his people. It is a stupendous, but disturbing presence; it is a "sign of contradiction" that pierces the heart with the sword of the love that gives. It requires a radical choice.

     In the concrete everyday life of Mary and Joseph’s marriage the mystery grows. Their talks are intense and full of amazement. Mary communicates to Joseph what her motherly heart suggests to her; Joseph participates to Mary what he seems to understand.

     As in the crib, the gaze of faith makes us embrace together the divine Child and the people who are beside him: his Most Holy Mother, and Joseph, his putative father. What light emanates from this "group icon" of Holy Christmas! Light of mercy and salvation for the whole world, light of truth for every man, for the human family and for individual families. How beautiful it is for spouses to mirror themselves in the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph.

     Let us now contemplate the Holy Family to taste the gift of family intimacy which pushes us to offer human warmth and concrete solidarity in those situations, unfortunately numerous, in which, for various reasons, there is no peace, no harmony, in a word, no "family".

     «With the Incarnation the Son of God united himself in a certain way to every man. He worked with human hands, ... he loved with a human heart. By being born of the Virgin Mary, He truly made himself one of us, in everything like us except in sin ».

     Matthew dwells on the pitfalls plotted by Herod. Jesus was born a child, he lived as a child. He fled in front of the violence of the powerful. He spent most of his life in the hiding place of Nazareth, "submissive" (Lk 2,51) as "Son of man" to Mary, his Mother, and to Joseph, the carpenter. Jesus also accepted the mission that the Heavenly Father confided to him. He made himself small and obedient.

 

 

3) Family and virginity

     The Family of Nazareth is holy because all its components are united by the desire to be faithful to God, to live his word, to seek his will and to put it into practice. «Through God's mysterious design, it was in that family that the Son of God spent long years of a hidden life. It is therefore the prototype and example for all Christian families. It was unique in the world. Its life was passed in anonymity and silence in a little town in Palestine. It underwent trials of poverty, persecution and exile. It glorified God in an incomparably exalted and pure way. And it will not fail to help Christian families-indeed, all the families in the world-to be faithful to their day-to-day duties, to bear the cares and tribulations of life, to be open and generous to the needs of others, and to fulfill with joy the plan of God in their regard. "(Familiaris Consortio, 86).

     Mary, true wife of Joseph, lived her love, in a virgin and chaste way. In my opinion, it is correct to say that, as an exceptional inspiration of the Holy Spirit guided Mary towards the ideal of virginity, throughout the history of the Church the same Spirit will push many women on the path of virginal consecration.

     It is the singular presence of grace in the life of Mary that leads to a commitment of the young woman in virginity. Filled with exceptional gifts by the Lord from the beginning of her existence, she is oriented towards a dedication of her whole soul and body to God in the virginal offering.

     Furthermore, the aspiration to the virginal life was in harmony with that "poverty" before God to which the Old Testament attaches great value. By fully engaging in this way, Mary also renounces motherhood, the woman's personal wealth so much appreciated in Israel. In this way "She excels among men and the poor of the Lord, who confidently await and receive salvation from him" (Lumen Gentium 55). Presenting herself to God as poor and aiming to a fruitfulness only spiritual, fruit of divine love, at the Annunciation Mary discovers that her poverty is transformed by the Lord into wealth. She will be the Virgin Mother of the Son of the Most High. Later she will also discover that her motherhood is destined to extend to all the men whom the Son has come to save (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 501).

 

                                                                    Patristic reading

 

(THE LORD’S FLIGHT INTO EGYPT)

2. The Lord’s flight into Egypt: The angel of the Lord.

In this first clause, there is shown morally how anyone of good will should carefully guard his work from the snares of the devil and the favour of the world. Let us see what is meant by the angel, Joseph, his sleep, the mother, the boy, Egypt and Herod.

The ‘angel of the Lord’ is the inspiration of divine grace, which tells a man what he should do and what he should not do. So Exodus 14:

The angel of the Lord went before the camp of Israel; (Ex 14,19);

And Exodus 32:

My angel shall go before thee, (Ex 32,34)

For two purposes, namely to show you the way and to defend you against the enemy.

So Tobit 5 says:

May you have a good journey; and may God be with you in your way; and may the angel of the Lord accompany you. (Tb 5,21)

Joseph (meaning ‘growing’) is any Christian who, planted in the Church by the faith of Christ, should grow from good to better, and bear the fruits of eternal life. His ‘sleep’ is peace of mind and the sweetness of contemplation. "Sleep is the rest of an animal’s

strength, with an intensification of its natural powers."1 When carnal concerns are at rest, and the spiritual are extended, then Joseph is ‘asleep’. So Job 3 says:

Now I should have been asleep and still; and should have rest in my sleep:

with kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes;

or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver. (Jb 1,15)

3. ‘Kings’ are those who hunger and thirst for justice (Mt 5,6). Augustine2 says, "Enter the court-room of your soul. Let reason be the judge, conscience the prosecutor, fear and pain the torturer and executioner, and let your works be in the witness-box." The ‘consuls of the earth’ are those who mourn (Mt 5,5) their misery and guilt. What sound counsel it is, to weep for oneself! Jeremiah 7 gives advice and counsel:

Cut off thy hair and cast it away: and take up a lamentation on high. (Jr 7,29)

Your ‘hair’ is temporal concerns, which hinder you from seeing your wretchedness and weeping for your sins. Cut it from your body, then, and cast it from your mind, and then you will be able to take up a lamentation on high. To lament in this way is not to spare oneself. Self-love is apt to be soft on itself, and lament insincerely. Those who want to act rightly should ‘build themselves solitudes’ not just of mind, but of body too. St Jerome3 says, "To me, a fortress is a prison, but the desert is a paradise." ‘Princes’ are the poor in spirit (Mt 5,3), who possess ‘gold’ (that is, golden poverty), and fill their ‘houses’ (their consciences) with the sounding silver of confession- both of divine praise and their own sin.

Sleeping with all these, Joseph should be still from the noisy world, and rest in sleep from tumultuous thoughts, so that the angel of the Lord may appear to him and say, Arise, that is, mount up, that you may grow high; don’t be like a turnip, that grows in and under the earth; be like a palm-tree which mounts on high. Arise, then, mount up like the swallows, which do not feed on the ground, but catch and eat their food in the air. The Apostle says:

Seek the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. (Col 3,1-2)

Rise, then, and take the child and his mother (Mt 2,13).

4. The ‘mother’ is good will, which when divinely inspired conceives good works affectively, and brings them to birth effectively. For instance: if you have good-will, but have not yet proposed any good deed in your heart, your will is barren, and is cursed as ‘barren in Israel’ (cf. Ex 23,26 Dt 7,14). But when you deliberate some good, you conceive; and when you complete it in work, you give birth. So Isaiah 8 says:

I went to the prophetess; and she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Hasten to take away the spoils, make haste to take away the prey.(Is 8,3)

The ‘prophetess’ is the soul, or a man’s own will, which should prophesy to him the glory of the Kingdom, the pains of hell, the malice of the devil, the deceit of the world, and his own wretchedness. Go to her in devotion, and she will conceive by deliberation and give birth by execution. And note that your ‘son’, your work, has a name in three parts: ‘Hasten’, because "Delay brings danger, and once you are ready it harms you to put off action."4 That which thou dost, do quickly (Jn 13,27). Note that every good work should be performed in three ways: swiftly, charitably, and to an end. Hasten, then, so as to act swiftly; ‘take the spoils’ from yourself, so as to provide charitably for your neighbour; and ‘make haste to take away the prey’ of the Kingdom of heaven, which should be the final cause of your whole work. Take, then, the child and his mother, lest Esau kill the mother with the children (cf. Gn 32,11), lest Pharao drown the child in the river, or Herod cut its throat with the sword.

5. So there follows:

For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him (Mt 2,13).

Herod means ‘glorying in skins’; he is the devil or the world. The devil transformeth himself into an angel of light (2Co 11,14); he glories in the whiteness of another’s skin, while his own hide is of the darkest hue. The world, too, is like to whited sepulchres, which are full of all filthiness (cf. Mt 23,27), and its glory is an outward one, in the brightness of the skin. It does everything so as to be seen by men (cf. Mt 6,5); and John 5 says:

How can you believe, who receive glory from one another; and the glory which is from God alone, you do not seek? (Jn 5,44)

These two conspire together to destroy the child, the purity of our work; the former by fraud, the latter by favour, the former by suggestion, the latter by flattery. They are the ‘hairy ones’ of whom Isaiah 34 speaks: The hairy ones shall cry out to one another, (Is 34,14)

to seek the child to destroy him.

So in the Psalm five things are mentioned, arising from these two, which customarily destroy the child; but first a saving remedy is mentioned:

His truth shall compass the with a shield (Ps 90,5)

The Truth of the Father is the Son, and his shield is the Cross, whereby he surrounds you to protect you against the devil, the world and the flesh. In the Cross is humility

against the devil’s pride; there is found Christ’s poverty, against the avarice of the world; there is crucifixion with nails against the lust of the flesh. Therefore,

Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night; (the devil’s suggestions)

of the arrow that flieth in the day; (vainglory;

of which Jeremiah says: I have not desired the day of men, thou knowest; (Jr 17,16) and Luke: And that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace! (Lc 19,42)) of the business that walketh about in the dark; (the deceits of hypocrisy) of invasion; (of adversity, )

or of the noon-day devil (Ps 90,5-6) (of prosperity, which burns like the sun at noon.)

6. Therefore, lest he perish, Take the child and his mother and fly into Egypt (Mt 2,13), which means ‘darkness’ or ‘anguish’, denoting the state of penitence. Note that the glory of the skin consists in two things: in whiteness and in extension; and on the contrary the glory of penitence is in darkness and contraction. In darkness of clothing, since, as Apocalypse 6 says:

The sun became black as sack-cloth of hair. (Ap 6,12)

In the contraction of humility and in anguish of sorrow in the mind, as Isaiah 21 says:

Anguish hath taken hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labour, (Is 21,3)

That is, of the penitent who brings forth the spirit of salvation. Do you want to save the child? Then fly into this Egypt, and be there until I shall tell thee (Mt 2,13). Note that the child Jesus, as the Gloss says, was hidden for seven years in Egypt; and you should dwell all the seventy years of your life in the Egypt of penitence, so that when they are done you may hear: Return into the land of Israel (Mt 2,20), the heavenly Jerusalem in which you will see God face to face (cf. 1Co 13,12)

 

La Sainte Famille: lieu où l’amour est toujours don de soi même

Dimanche de la Sainte Famille de Nazareth - année a - 28 décembre 2025

Sir 3, 3-7.14-17a; Col 3, 12-21; Ps 127; Mt 2, 13-15. 19-23

 

1)    L'extraordinaire devient quotidien et nous apprend à rendre le quotidien extraordinaire

 Il y a quelques jours nous avons célébré l'extraordinaire et exceptionnel fait de la naissance de Jésus Christ. Aujourd'hui, la liturgie nous fait célébrer la fête de la Sainte Famille de Jésus, Marie et Joseph, pour nous aider à vivre - entreautre - le quotidien d'une manière extraordinaire. La façon de rendre « héroïque » (mot que j'aimerais être compris et utilisé comme synonyme de « saint » est d'aller à l'école de la Famille de Nazareth, en méditant sur les trois composantes de ce « vrai » (un autre adjectif qui devrait être utilisé comme synonyme de « saint ») noyau familial. 

       Commençons par Joseph, le descendant de David, l'homme juste. Grâce également à lui « le mystère de l'Incarnation et celui de la Sainte Famille sont profondément inscrits dans l'amour conjugal de l'homme et de la femme et indirectement dans la généalogie de chaque famille humaine » (Saint Jean-Paul II).

            Dans l’Évangile de Matthieu, c'est Joseph qui reçoit la volonté de Dieu par l'ange et la réalise. Joseph  est le vrai chef de famille (au sens de authentique, légal et saint). L’Évangile nous le présente toujours comme l'homme obéissant et silencieux. « Celui qui ne prêche pas, ne parle pas, mais essaie de faire la volonté de Dieu ; et il le fait à la manière de l'Évangile et des Béatitudes « Heureux les pauvres en esprit, car le royaume des cieux est à eux’ Mt 5, 3) » (Pape François 22 décembre 2019).

 Il fait ce qu’on lui dit. Ce n'est pas une obéissance servile, mais un choix libre, courageux et responsable, non sans risque, ni sans dangers, doutes et peur de l'inconnu. Saint Joseph est bien conscient que les personnes qui sont confiées à lui, le Gardien de la Rédemption, ne lui appartiennent pas. Jésus et Marie appartiennent à Dieu, mais ils lui sont confiés pour qu'il prenne soin d'eux, les protège et les garde. Et cet homme juste remplit cette tâche avec un amour fidèle, confiant totalement et uniquement en Dieu, et sacrifiant ses propres aspirations personnelles légitimes. Son obéissance à Dieu est entièrement gratuite et heureuse grâce à la joie du don. C'est en donnant que vous recevez. Joseph l'a bien compris et pour l'amour de Marie et Jésus est prêt à payer n'importe quel prix. Joseph est l'homme qui sait traduire l'obéissance à Dieu en un chant d'amour et de liberté.

            Tournons maintenant les yeux du cœur vers Marie. L'évangile de Matthieu nous présente la Mère de Jésus comme une mère silencieuse et, au même temps, toujours attentive, vigilante et bienveillante. Ces mots répétés : « l'enfant et sa mère » nous disent que Marie a toujours été auprès de Jésus. Marie est le terrain fertile qui a accueilli le Fils de Dieu. En tant que Vierge Mère, elle a une relation très spéciale avec cet enfant, qui est son Dieu. Une relation d'amour maternel qui est une épée qui transpercée. Que cet amour soit comme une épée lui a été révélé par le prophète Siméon le jour de la présentation de Jésus au Temple : « Une épée va transpercer ton âme ». L'amour est une épée et Christ était une épée pour sa mère même avant sa naissance. 

Qui ne se souvient pas de ce drame évoqué au début de l'Évangile de Matthieu, de ce drame de l'amour humain ? De ce grand drame de silence infini qui suivit l'annonce qu’après avoir reçu le « oui » de Marie l'Ange la quitta seule dans sa modeste maison à Nazareth, en silence. Et La Vierge Mère ne peut que rester enfermée dans son silence, car le secret qu'elle porte en elle est le secret de Dieu.

 La Vierge de Nazareth est devenue en effet la « Mère de Dieu ». Par conséquent, en Marie, Mère de Dieu, chaque femme voit son visage s'y refléter. En elle, chaque femme voit sa perfection réalisée, la perfection de ce qui « est caractéristique de la femme », de « ce qui est féminin » (Saint Jean Paul II). La virginité est une manière particulière d'aimer et d'être aimée de Dieu. C'est une vocation que la femme réalise à la fois dans la virginité et dans la maternité. Marie est la Mère de Dieu sans cesser d'être son humble servante, elle est proche de son fils et avec foi et amour elle l'aime, non seulement en tant que fils, mais en tant que son Dieu. 

            Sans épuiser ce mystère divin, Marie est toujours à côté de son fils. Elle le voit comme un enfant avec ses yeux "charnels", elle le contemple avec les yeux  « spirituels » de son cœur. Et tout cela lui arrive aussi dans la souffrance de la peur et dans la douleur de l'exil. Dans la chaleur de cet amour humain et théologale, Marie vit également sa relation d’épouse de Joseph. Une relation particulière, bien sûr, mais toujours profondément humaine, faite de regards, de délicatesse, de silences, de beaucoup d'amour. Marie fait ce que Joseph lui dit, sans tergiverser. Dans l'évangile de Matthieu, la volonté de Dieu se manifeste à elle à travers la relation de communion avec le conjoint. Nous pouvons lire une expression de cette relation profonde entre les deux dans l'Évangile de Luc, lorsque Marie dit à Jésus: « Ton père et moi, en peine, te cherchions ». C'est dans la douleur que les sentiments s'affinent et se consolident.

 

   

            2) JÉSUS regardé par Marie, par Joseph et par chacun de nous.

      

 Maintenant, regardons Jésus avec les yeux de Marie et Joseph.

       Près l'un de l'autre, souriants et pensifs, Marie et Joseph regardent Jésus. C'est un enfant fragile comme tous les nourrissons, mais magnifique, comme chaque enfant pour ses parents. Dans cette fragilité qui fait de la tendresse, ils entrevoient le mystère de la tendresse de Dieu: Jésus est au cœur de l'histoire de son peuple; c'est une présence d'une miséricorde prodigieuse, mais inquiétante; c'est un «signe de contradiction» qui transperce le cœur par l'épée d'amour qui est offrande et donne. Cela nécessite un choix radical.

        Dans la « banalité » du quotidien concret de la vie familiale  de Marie et Joseph, le mystère grandit. Le dialogue dans ce couple saint est intense et plein d'étonnement. Marie communique à Joseph ce que son cœur maternel lui suggère ; Joseph participe à Marie ses intuitions de père « legal ».

       Comme dans la crèche, le regard de la foi nous fait embrasser ensemble l'Enfant divin et les personnes qui lui sont proches : sa très Sainte Mère, et Saint Joseph, son père "putatif". Quelle lumière émane de cette « icône »  du Saint Noël. Lumière de miséricorde et de salut pour le monde entier, lumière de vérité pour chaque homme, pour l’entière famille humaine et pour chaque famille. Comme il est beau pour les époux de se refléter dans la Vierge Marie et son mari Joseph.

       Nous aussi, nous contemplons maintenant la Sainte Famille, pour savourer le don de l'intimité familiale qui nous poussera à offrir chaleur humaine et solidarité concrète dans ces situations, malheureusement nombreuses, où, pour diverses raisons, il n'y a pas de paix, pas d'harmonie, manque, en un mot, la « famille ».

       « Avec l'Incarnation, le Fils de Dieu s'est uni -d'une certaine manière- à chaque homme. Il a travaillé avec des mains humaines, ... il a aimé avec un coeur humain. En étant né de la Vierge Marie, il s'est vraiment fait un de nous, en tout semblable à  nous  sauf que dans le péché » (Gaudium et spes, 22) .

         Saint Matthieu s'attarde sur les pièges tracés par Hérode. Jésus est né enfant, il a vécu en enfant. Il s'est enfui devant la violence des puissants. Il a passé la majeure partie de sa vie caché à Nazareth, « soumis » (Lc 2,51) en tant que «Fils de l'homme» à Marie, sa mère, et à son père legal, Joseph, le charpentier. Jésus a également accepté la mission que son Père céleste lui a confiée. Il s'est rendu petit et obéissant.

3)    Famille et virginité

La Famille de Nazareth est Sainte parce que tous ses membres ont en commun le désir d’etre  fidèles à Dieu, de vivre sa parole, de rechercher sa volonté et de la mettre en pratique. « Par le mystérieux dessein de Dieu, le Fils de Dieu a vécu caché pendant de nombreuses années: la Sainte Famille  est donc le prototype et l'exemple de toutes les familles chrétiennes. C'est cette famille, unique au monde, qui a passé une existence anonyme et silencieuse dans une petite ville de la Terre Sainte. Elle a été mise à l’épreuve par la pauvreté, la persécution, l'exil Elle a glorifié Dieu d'une manière incomparablement élevée et pure. Elle ne manquera pas d'aider les familles chrétiennes, voire toutes les familles du monde, dans la fidélité à leurs devoirs quotidiens, à supporter les angoisses et les tribulations de la vie, dans la généreuse ouverture aux besoins des autres, dans la joyeuse réalisation du dessein de Dieu. envers eux » (Familiaris Consortio, 86). Marie, la vraie femme de Joseph, a vécu son amour d’épouse  d’une manière toujours  vierge et chaste. Il est donc à mon avis correct affirmer que comme Marie a été guidé vers l'idéal de la virginité par a été une inspiration exceptionnelle du e Saint-Esprit ainsi, tout au long de l'histoire de l'Église, elle poussera de nombreuses femmes sur le chemin de la consécration virginale.

La présence singulière de la grâce dans la vie de Marie conduit à l’établissement d’un engagement de la jeune femme dans la virginité. Remplie de dons exceptionnels du Seigneur depuis le début de son existence, elle est orientée vers une dédicace de toute son âme et de tout son corps à Dieu dans l'offrande virginale.

De plus, l'aspiration à la vie virginale était en harmonie avec cette « pauvreté » devant Dieu, à déjà laquelle l'Ancien Testament attache une grande valeur. En s'engageant pleinement dans cette voie, Marie renonce également à la maternité, la richesse personnelle de la femme, si appréciée en Israël. De cette façon « Elle excelle parmi les hommes et les pauvres du Seigneur, qui attendent avec confiance et reçoivent de lui le salut » (Lumen Gentium, n 55). Mais, se présentant à Dieu comme pauvre et ne recherchant que la fécondité spirituelle, fruit de l’amour divin, au moment de l'Annonciation, Marie découvre que sa pauvreté est transformée par le Seigneur en richesse. Elle sera la Vierge Mère du Fils du Très-Haut . Plus tard, il découvrira également que sa maternité est destinée à s'étendre à tous les hommes que le Fils est venu sauver (cf. Catéchisme de l'Église catholique, 501).

Lecture Patristique

 

Homélie de saint Jean Chrysostome (+ 407)

Homélie pour Noël, PG 56, 392

Le Sauveur est entré en Egypte pour supprimer le deuil de l'antique tristesse. Au lieu des plaies il apporta la joie; au lieu des ténèbres et de la nuit, il donna la lumière du salut. Autrefois l'eau du fleuve avait été polluée par le massacre prématuré des petits enfants. Il entra donc en Egypte, celui qui jadis avait rougi cette eau, et il rendit les eaux des fleuves capables d'engendrer le salut, en purifiant par la puissance de l'Esprit ce qui était maudit et souillé en elles. Les Égyptiens avaient été châtiés et, dans leur folie, ils avaient renié le Seigneur. Le Seigneur entra en Egypte, il remplit les âmes religieuses de la connaissance de Dieu, et il donna au fleuve de produire encore plus de martyrs que d'épis de blé. <>

Que puis-je dire de ce mystère? Je vois un ouvrier, une mangeoire, un enfant, des langes, l'enfantement d'une vierge privée de tout le nécessaire, toutes les marques de l'indigence, tout le fardeau de la pauvreté. Avez-vous jamais vu la richesse dans une telle pénurie? Comment celui qui était riche s'est-il fait pauvre pour nous au point que, privé de berceau et de couvertures, il est étendu dans une dure mangeoire?

 <>

O richesse immense, sous les apparences de la pauvreté! Il gît dans une mangeoire et il ébranle l'univers! Serré dans ses langes, il brise les chaînes du péché. Alors qu'il ne peut pas prononcer un mot, il a instruit les mages et les a fait changer d'itinéraire! Encore une fois, le mystère décourage la parole! Voici le bébé enveloppé de linges, couché dans une mangeoire; il y a là aussi Marie, à la fois vierge et mère, il y a encore Joseph qu'on appelle son père. Celui-ci a épousé Marie, mais le Saint-Esprit a couvert Marie de son ombre. C'est pourquoi Joseph était angoissé, ne sachant comment appeler l'enfant. <>

Dans cette anxiété, un oracle lui fut apporté par un ange: Ne crains pas, Joseph, l'enfant qui est engendré en elle vient de l'Esprit Saint(Mt 1,20). Car c'est lui qui l'a couverte de son ombre. Pourquoi le Sauveur est-il né d'une vierge et a-t-il sauvegardé sa virginité? Parce que jadis Eve, étant vierge, fut trompée par le démon, Gabriel apporta la bonne nouvelle à Marie qui était vierge. Mais tandis qu'Eve, s'étant laissé séduire, enfanta une cause de mort, Marie ayant reçu la bonne nouvelle, enfanta le Verbe incarné qui nous a apporté la vie éternelle.

 

La Santa Famiglia: luogo dove l’amore è sempre dono di se stessi

Domenica fra l'ottava di Natale - La Santa Famiglia di Nazareth - anno A - 28 dicembre 2025

 

Sir 3, 3-7.14-17a; Col 3, 12-21; Sal 127; Mt 2, 13-15. 19-23

 

1) Lo straordinario diventa quotidiano e ci insegna a rendere il quotidiano straordinario. 

Poco meno di una settimana fa, abbiamo celebrato la straordinaria eccezionalità della nascita di Gesù Cristo. Oggi, la Liturgia ci fa celebrare la festa della Santa Famiglia di Gesù, Maria e Giuseppe, per aiutarci a vivere il quotidiano in modo straordinario. Il modo di rendere “eroico” (parola che vorrei sia capita e usata come sinonimo di “santo” è di mettersi alla scuola della Famiglia di Nazareth, meditando sui tre componenti di questo “vero” (altro aggettivo che si dovrebbe usare come sinonimo di "santo") nucleo familiare.

Cominciamo da Giuseppe, discendente di Davide, uomo giusto. Anche grazie a Lui  “il mistero dell'Incarnazione e quello della Santa Famiglia sono inscritti profondamente nell'amore sponsale dell'uomo e della donna e indirettamente nella genealogia di ogni famiglia umana” (San Giovanni Paolo II).

Nel Vangelo di Matteo è Giuseppe a ricevere attraverso l'angelo la volontà di Dio  e a realizzarla. Giuseppe è  il vero (nel senso di autentico, di legale e di santo) capo della famiglia. Il vangelo ce lo presenta sempre come l’uomo obbediente e silenzioso. “Uno che non predica, non parla, ma cerca di fare la volontà di Dio; e la compie nello stile del Vangelo e delle Beatitudini: «Beati i poveri in spirito, perché di essi è il regno dei cieli» (Mt 5,3)” (Papa Francesco 22 dicembre 2019).. Fa quanto gli viene indicato. La sua non è obbedienza servile, ma scelta libera, coraggiosa e responsabile, non priva di rischi, di pericoli e di dubbi e della paura dell’incognito. San Giuseppe è ben consapevole che le persone affidate a lui, il Custode della Redenzione, non sono sua proprietà. Gesù e Maria  appartengono a Dio. Ma gli sono affidati perché ne abbia cura, li protegga e li custodisca. E questo uomo giusto adempie  questo compito con amore fedele, confidando totalemente e solamente in Dio, e sacrificando le proprie legittime aspirazioni personali. La sua obbedienza a Dio è pienamente libera e lieta grazie alla  gioia del dono. E’ donando che si riceve. Giuseppe l’ha ben capito e per amore di Maria e Gesù è disposto a pagare qualunque prezzo. Giuseppe è l’uomo che sa tradurre l’obbedienza a Dio in canto d’amore e di libertà.

       Rivolgiamo ora gli occhi del cuore a Maria. Il vangelo di Matteo ci presenta la Madre di Gesù  come mamma  silenziosa e, nel contempo, sempre attenta, vigile, premurosa. Quelle parole ripetute “il bambino e sua madre” ci dicono che Maria era sempre accanto a Gesù.  Maria è il terreno fecondo che ha accolto il Figlio di Dio. Come Vergine Madre, lei ha un rapporto del tutto speciale con quel bambino, che è il suo Dio. Un materno rapporto d'amore che è una spada che trafigge. Che questo amore sia come una spada fu rivelato a lei dal profeta Simeone il giorno della presentazione di Gesù al Tempio: “Una spada ti trafiggerà l'anima”. 

L'amore è una spada e Cristo è stato per sua Madre una spada ancor prima di nascere. Chi non ricorda questo dramma evocato all'inizio del Vangelo di Matteo, questo dramma dell'amore umano, questo grande dramma del silenzio infinito che seguì l'annuncio che dopo avere ricevuto il "sì" di Maria l'Angelo la lasciò sola nella sua modesta casa a Nazareth, nel silenzio. E la Madonna non può che restare racchiusa nel suo silenzio, perché il segreto che lei porta in sè, è il segreto di Dio. La Vergine di Nazaret è diventata, infatti, la "Madre di Dio".

 “Pertanto, in Maria, Madre di Dio, ogni donna vede specchiato il suo volto. In lei vede realizzata la sua perfezione, la perfezione di ciò «che è caratteristico della donna», di 'ciò che è femminile'”, San Giovanni di Dio). Un modo speciale di amare e di essere amata da Dio, una vocazione che la donna realizza sia nella verginità che nella maternità. Maria è Madre di Dio senza cessare di essere serva, è vicina al figlio e con fede e con amore lo ama, non solo come figlio, ma come il suo Dio. Senza esaurirne il mistero, Maria è sempre accanto al figlio. Lo vede bambino con gli occhi, lo contempla Dio nel suo cuore. E tutto questo anche per lei avviene nella sofferenza della paura e nel dolore dell’esilio. Nel calore di questo amore umano e soprannaturale, Maria vive anche la sua relazione di sposa con Giuseppe. Un rapporto speciale, certo, ma sempre profondamente umano, fatto di sguardi, di delicatezze, di silenzi, di tanto amore. Maria fa quello che le dice Giuseppe, senza tergiversare. Nel vangelo di Matteo, la volontà di Dio le si manifesta attraverso il rapporto di comunione con lo sposo. Una espressione di questa relazione profonda tra i due la leggiamo nel Vangelo di Luca, quando Maria dice a Gesù: “Tuo padre ed io addolorati ti cercavamo”. E’ nel dolore che si raffinano e si consolidano i sentimenti. 

 

2) GESU’ guardato da Maria, da Giuseppe e da ciascuno di noi.

Guardiamo, ora, Gesù con gli occhi di Maria e di Giuseppe.

Stretti l’uno all’altra, Maria e Giuseppe guardano sorridenti e pensosi  Gesù: è un bambino fragile, ma stupendo, come è ogni bambino per i suoi genitori. In quella fragilità, che fa tenerezza, intravedono il mistero della tenerezza di Dio. Gesù è nel cuore della storia del suo popolo; è una presenza stupenda, ma inquietante; è “segno di contraddizione” che trafigge il cuore con la spada dell'amore che di dona. Esige una scelta radicale.

Nella ferialità concreta della vicenda sponsale di Maria e di Giuseppe cresce il mistero. I loro colloqui si fanno intensi e carichi di stupore. Maria comunica a Giuseppe ciò che il suo cuore di madre le suggerisce; Giuseppe partecipa a Maria ciò che gli sembra di intuire.

Come nel presepe, lo sguardo di fede ci fa abbracciare insieme il Bimbo divino e le persone che gli sono accanto: la sua Madre Santissima, e Giuseppe, il suo padre putativo. Quale luce si sprigiona da questa “icona di gruppo” del Santo Natale! Luce di misericordia e di salvezza per il mondo intero, luce di verità per ogni uomo, per la famiglia umana e per le singole famiglie. Com’è bello per i coniugi rispecchiarsi nella Vergine Maria e nel suo sposo Giuseppe.

Anche noi ora contempliamo la Santa Famiglia, per gustare il dono dell’intimità familiare, che ci spinge ad offrire calore umano e concreta solidarietà in quelle situazioni, purtroppo numerose, in cui, per vari motivi manca la pace, manca l’armonia, manca, in una parola, la “famiglia”.

 “Con l'Incarnazione il Figlio di Dio si è unito in certo modo ad ogni uomo. Ha lavorato con mani d'uomo, ... ha amato con cuore d'uomo. Nascendo da Maria Vergine, Egli si è fatto veramente uno di noi, in tutto simile a noi fuorché nel peccato” (Gaudium et spes, 22).

San Matteo si sofferma sulle insidie tramate da Erode. Gesù è nato bambino, ha vissuto da bambino. E’ fuggito davanti alla violenza dei potenti. Ha trascorso gran parte della sua vita nel nascondimento di Nazaret, “sottomesso”  (Lc 2,51) come “Figlio dell'uomo” a Maria, sua Madre, e a Giuseppe, il falegname. Anche Gesù ha accolto la missione che il Padre celeste gli confidava. Egli si è fatto piccolo ed obbediente. 

 

 3) Famiglia e verginità

La Famiglia di Nazareth è Santa perché tutti i suoi componenti sono accomunati dal desiderio di essere fedeli a Dio, di vivere la sua parola, di cercare la sua volontà e di metterla in pratica. «Per misterioso disegno di Dio, in essa è vissuto nascosto per lunghi anni il Figlio di Dio: essa è dunque prototipo ed esempio di tutte le famiglie cristiane. E’ quella Famiglia, unica al mondo, che ha trascorso un'esistenza anonima e silenziosa in un piccolo paese della Terra Santa; che è stata provata dalla povertà, dalla persecuzione, dall'esilio; che ha glorificato Dio in modo incomparabilmente alto e puro. Essa non mancherà di assistere le famiglie cristiane, anzi tutte le famiglie del mondo, nella fedeltà ai loro doveri quotidiani, nel sopportare le ansie e le tribolazioni della vita, nella generosa apertura verso le necessità degli altri, nell'adempimento gioioso del piano di Dio nei loro riguardi» (Familiaris Consortio, 86).

 Maria, vera sposa di Giuseppe, visse il suo amore sponsala in modo sempre vergine e casto quindi è, secondo me, giusto affermare che come a guidare Maria verso l’ideale della verginità è stata un’ispirazione eccezionale di quello stesso Spirito Santo così, nel corso della storia della Chiesa, spingerà tante donne sulla via della consacrazione verginale. 

            La presenza singolare della grazia nella vita di Maria, porta a concludere per un impegno della giovane nella verginità. Colma di doni eccezionali del Signore dall’inizio della sua esistenza, ella è orientata ad una dedizione di tutta se stessa - anima e corpo - a Dio nell’offerta verginale.  

Inoltre, l’aspirazione alla vita verginale era in armonia con quella “povertà” dinanzi a Dio, a cui l’Antico Testamento attribuisce un grande valore. Impegnandosi pienamente in questa via, Maria rinuncia anche alla maternità, ricchezza personale della donna, tanto apprezzata in Israele. In tal modo "Ella primeggia tra gli uomini e i poveri del Signore, i quali con fiducia attendono e ricevono da lui la salvezza” (Lumen Gentium 55). Ma, presentandosi a Dio come povera, e mirando ad una fecondità solo spirituale, frutto dell’amore divino, al momento dell’Annunciazione Maria scopre che la sua povertà è trasformata dal Signore in ricchezza: Ella sarà la Madre Vergine del Figlio dell’Altissimo. Più tardi scoprirà anche che la sua maternità è destinata ad estendersi a tutti gli uomini che il Figlio è venuto a salvare (cf. Catechismo della Chiesa Cattolica, 501).

 

 

Lettura Patristica

San Giovanni  Crisostomo

In Matth. 8, 2 s.; 9, 2; 5, 1

 

 

 L’insegnamento della fuga in Egitto.

       Noi dobbiamo aspettarci sin dai primi giorni della nostra vita tentazioni e pericoli. Considerate, infatti, che subito, sin dalla culla, è accaduto ciò a Gesù. Era appena nato, che già il furore del tiranno si scatenò contro di lui e lo costrinse a trasferirsi per cercare scampo in un luogo d’esilio, e sua madre, così pura e innocente, fu costretta con lui a fuggire in un paese di stranieri. Questo comportamento di Dio vi mostra che, quando avete l’onore di essere impegnati in qualche ministero o servizio spirituale e vi vedete circondati da infiniti pericoli e costretti a sopportare crudeli sventure, non dovete turbarvi, né dovete dire a voi stessi: Per quale ragione sono così maltrattato, io che mi aspettavo una corona, elogi, la gloria, brillanti ricompense, avendo compiuto la volontà di Dio? Questo esempio vi spinga, dunque, a sopportare fermamente le disgrazie e vi faccia conoscere che, di solito, è questa la sorte degli uomini spirituali: avere, cioè, come inseparabili compagne, le prove e le tribolazioni. Osservate appunto quanto capitò non soltanto alla madre di Gesù, ma anche ai Magi. Costoro si ritirano segretamente come dei fuggiaschi, e la Vergine, che non era solita uscire dalla sua casa, è costretta a fare un cammino quanto mai lungo e faticoso, a causa di quella straordinaria e sorprendente nascita spirituale.

       Ammirate ancora il meraviglioso avvenimento! La Palestina perseguita Gesù Cristo e l’Egitto lo accoglie e lo salva dai suoi persecutori. Questo mostra all’evidenza che Dio non ha soltanto tracciato i tipi e le figure dell’avvenire nei figli del patriarca, ma anche in Gesù stesso...

       L’angelo, dunque, apparve non a Maria, ma a Giuseppe e gli disse: «Levati, prendi il bambino e sua madre». Non disse più, come aveva detto prima, «prendi la tua sposa», ma «prendi sua madre», perché ormai, dopo la nascita, Giuseppe non nutriva più alcun dubbio, e credeva fermamente alla verità del mistero. L’angelo gli parla, dunque, con maggiore libertà, senza chiamare Gesù «suo figlio» e Maria «sua sposa», ma dicendo: «Prendi il bambino e sua madre, e fuggì in Egitto». E gli spiega anche la ragione della fuga, aggiungendo: "Perché Erode sta cercando il bambino per ucciderlo" (Mt 2,13).

       Giuseppe, ascoltando queste parole, non rimase negativamente impressionato. Non disse all’angelo che quella fuga gli sembrava enigmatica, dato che poco tempo prima lo stesso angelo gli aveva detto che il bambino avrebbe dovuto salvare il suo popolo, mentre ora sembrava non essere neppure capace di salvare se stesso. Quella fuga, quel viaggio e quella lunga emigrazione non erano forse in contraddizione con la promessa che l’angelo medesimo gli aveva fatto? Ma Giuseppe non disse niente di tutto questo, perch‚ era un uomo di fede. Non si dimostrò neppure curioso di conoscere il tempo del ritorno, poiché l’angelo non gliel’aveva affatto precisato, avendogli detto genericamente: «Resta colà, fino a che io non te lo dica». Al contrario, Giuseppe dimostra vivo zelo: ascolta, obbedisce (Mt 2,14) e sopporta con gioia tutte le prove.

       Dio, nella sua bontà, mescola, in queste circostanze, la gioia e il dolore. Così egli è solito agire con tutti i santi. Non li lascia sempre nel pericolo o sempre nella sicurezza, ma ordina la vita degli uomini giusti a mo’ di una trama, in cui si intrecciano gioie e dolori. E proprio così si comportava con Giuseppe. Vi prego di osservare e di riflettere. Giuseppe si accorge che Maria è incinta e subito è colto da turbamento e da una grande angoscia, sospettando che la Vergine abbia commesso adulterio: ma l’angelo interviene immediatamente, sciogliendo ogni sospetto e liberandolo da ogni timore. Poi il bambino nasce e Giuseppe ne è estremamente felice: ma alla sua gioia fa seguito subito un nuovo dolore, perch‚ sente che tutta la città turbata e il re, in preda a un vivo furore, ricercano con ogni mezzo il bambino. Questa pena è temperata dalla gioia ch’egli prova alla vista della stella e dell’adorazione dei Magi: ma, ancora una volta, la gioia si muta in ansia e paura, quando l’angelo gli dice che «Erode sta cercando il bambino per ucciderlo» e gli ingiunge di fuggire e di emigrare.

       Sta di fatto che Gesù doveva allora comportarsi in modo del tutto umano. Il tempo di compiere miracoli non era ancora venuto. Se avesse così presto cominciato a far prodigi, nessuno avrebbe creduto che era un uomo. Per questo motivo, egli non viene al mondo d’improvviso: come un uomo è dapprima concepito, poi resta nove mesi nel seno di Maria, nasce, si nutre con il latte materno, vive per molto tempo una vita ritirata, aspettando di divenire uomo adulto con il passar degli anni, in modo che questo suo comportamento convinca tutti a credere alla verità della sua incarnazione...

       Dunque l’angelo ordina loro, al ritorno dall’Egitto, di andare a stabilirsi nel loro paese. Anche questo accade con un preciso disegno, cioè "affinché si adempisse" - dice il Vangelo - "ciò che era stato detto dai profeti: Egli sarà chiamato Nazareno" (Mt 2,23)

       Del resto, proprio perché lo predissero i profeti, gli apostoli spesso chiamarono Cristo «Nazareno» (Is 11,1).

       Questo fatto, allora, rendeva oscura e non facilmente comprensibile la profezia relativa a Betlemme? Niente affatto. Ché, proprio questo doveva, al contrario, stimolare la loro curiosità e spingerli a indagare su quanto era stato detto di lui nelle profezie. Come si sa, fu il nome di Nazaret che spinse Natanaele a informarsi su Gesù Cristo, da cui si recò dopo aver detto: "E può venire qualcosa di buono da Nazaret?" (Jn 1,46). Nazaret era, infatti, un villaggio di nessun conto, come del resto pochissima importanza aveva tutta la regione della Galilea. Per ciò i farisei dissero a Nicodemo: Ricerca bene e vedrai che non sorge profeta dalla Galilea (Jn 7,52). Tuttavia, Cristo non si vergognò di prender nome da questa patria, per mostrarci che non aveva affatto bisogno di ciò che gli uomini ritengono importante. Egli scelse i suoi apostoli proprio in Galilea, paese disprezzato dai Giudei, per togliere ogni scusa ai pigri e far loro vedere che non occorre niente di tutto quanto è esteriore, se essi si applicano con zelo alla virtù. Sempre per questo motivo il Figlio di Dio non volle affatto una casa sua: "Il Figliolo dell’uomo non ha dove posare il capo", egli dice (Lc 9,58). Per questa ragione fugge quando Erode vuole ucciderlo; appena nato viene deposto in una mangiatoia e rimane in una stalla; si sceglie anche una madre povera: ed ha fatto tutto ciò per abituarci a non arrossire di queste cose, per insegnarci, insomma, fin dal suo ingresso in questo mondo, a calpestare sotto i piedi il lusso e l’orgoglio del mondo e a non ricercare altro che la virtù...

       Non restiamo, dunque, ad aspettare oziosamente l’aiuto degli altri. È certo che le preghiere dei santi hanno molta efficacia, ma solo quando noi mutiamo condotta e diventiamo migliori...

       Insomma, se noi siamo pigri e negligenti, neppure gli altri ci potranno soccorrere: ma se vegliamo su noi stessi, da noi medesimi ci soccorreremo e lo faremo molto meglio di quanto potrebbero farlo gli altri. Dio preferisce accordare la sua grazia direttamente a noi, piuttosto che ad altri per noi, perché lo zelo che poniamo nel cercare di allontanare la sua collera ci spinge ad agire con fiducia e a diventare migliori di quel che siamo. Per questo il Signore fu misericordioso con la cananea e così egli salvò la Maddalena e il ladrone, senza che alcun mediatore fosse intervenuto a favore.

 

Word became flesh and made his home among us

                                                     Christmas 

                                           December 25, 2025

                    The Child Jesus is born. Heaven has come to earth

                                            bringing blessing and joy.

 

 

Mass at Midnight: Is 9:2-4 6-7; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14

Mass at Dawn:       Is 62:11=12; Ti 3:4-7; Lk 2:15-20

Mass During the Day: Is 52:7-10; Heb 1:1-6; Jn 1:1-18

 

1)     Mass at Midnight: the feast of Heaven

     In the night of the world that Advent has lighted during the busy waiting for the fullness of time, Jesus the Son of God comes on Earth and gives light to the eyes of the mind and of the heart. The Word becomes the flesh that we can not only hear but also see. Now it is possible to meet the Word of God that is born into the world. We are called to grow in the faith that God has become man. We are called to see Him in a manger and as defenseless child. We are called to celebrate this manifestation of God’s Love that today becomes flesh through the "yes" of our heart. 

     Christmas is so permeated with mystery that the liturgy proposes three Masses[1] to celebrate it, allowing us to live three moments of the amazement and joy of the Church for the birth of the Savior.

     The first moment is the Mass at Midnight that begins with the chant of the Introit: “I will proclaim the decree of the LORD; he said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” (Ps 3,7)

     It is the moment of the Father. His good and loving will “uses” heaven, earth and mankind’s will to give birth in Bethlehem (the City of Bread) to the Bread of Angels, and to donate Him to humanity as the food of true life.

    It is the moment of the blessed Mother. Mary, in her first encounter with the Son, wraps him in swaddling clothes and takes care of Him with humble gestures. Her job as a mother is an act of adoration of the incarnated Creator who needs to be washed and clothed like every newborn. The dingy environment of the cave doesn’t sadden Mary. The Father takes charge of organizing the feast for the birth into times of His Son, and sends a festive array of Angels that sing, “Glory to God in the highest and peace on Earth for men, all loved by God”

     It is a small event that is not registered in any historic chronicle, but it is the event that has changed the world. That is: God has become king on Earth becoming a child, and the Father who is in Heaven, through the angels, invites humanity to celebrate because “the Lord is born.” What is the sign for this extraordinary event? A baby wrapped and lying in a manger. Nothing special. He is a baby like all the others wrapped babies, and he cannot move because he is lying in swaddling clothes. Thanks to God the shepherds trusted the words of the Angels.

 

2)     The Mass at Dawn; the Feast of the Earth

     When the Angels, ascending to heaven, went away, the shepherds started to say, “‘Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So, they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.” (Lk 2:15-20) The shepherds went, saw the sign pointed out to them by Heaven and believed. They believed because they knew how to go from the extraordinary event of the Angels singing in the sky to the humble ordinary event in a cave. These poor men were able to act as did God becoming a child. Like God who is in the highest took the way of humility, so did the shepherds. In fact, to meet God we must do as he does: “to descend’ toward our poor, suffering, thirsty, naked, sick and imprisoned brothers. With the incarnation, His place is there. He identified himself with these people and continues to do it even now. This is the great joy that we hear today: God has sent us the Savior. If from one side we are poor of life and chained to the necessity to be saved, on the other side this Christmas - but not only today - we are sent to the poor and the prisoners because we are part of Salvation that is a joy to share.

     The feast of Heaven, where the Angels sing glory to God and peace to men on Earth, starts becoming a feast of the Earth where the gift to see the divine Child and his Mother is given to poor shepherds. The shepherds are the first witnesses and the first fortunate participants to this feast of salvation donated by the God rich in mercy.  On them, and thanks to them, today the light shines on us because the Savior is born: Almighty God is his name, Prince of peace, Father of eternity. His kingdom will never end (Antiphon of the introit of the Mass at Dawn)

     The second Mass of Christmas, called Mass at Dawn, celebrates the first manifestation of the Word to humanity represented by the shepherds that adored the “shortened”[2] Word in a newborn. The shepherds accepted the Baby Jesus as “the only heart of their hearts” (Saint Pious of Pietralcina) and received comfort and strength: full joy. As soon as they saw in the dim light of the Stable a young beautiful Woman in silent adoration of her son and the child who had just open his eyes to the world, his little body and little mouth, their hearts melted , their minds were open and they believed. They were happy because the heavens had been open, and man was not any more a vagrant on the road of the world: he has found the way of truth and true life. 

     For them the sentence of the prologue of the Gospel of John became true: “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.” (Jn 1:12). Saint Gregory of Nazianzus comments as follows the great event of Christmas where the Word become flesh “Man now assumes his true dimension because he is not truly a man but in God. Is there a presence in God stronger than divine filiation? Now the exiled King returns to the Earth prepared for him, and at the same time man find his ‘place,’ his true home and his true country: God”

 

3)     The Mass During the Day: Feast of Light

      The third moment that the Church celebrates in the Mass called During the Day is the eternal birth of the Son of God in the womb of his Father.  At Midnight the liturgy makes us celebrate the God-Man that is born to the Virgin in a Manger.  At Dawn we remember the divine Child that is born in the heart of the shepherds that is us. During the third celebration the Church celebrates a birth much more amazing than the previous two, a birth whose light blinds the eyes of the Angels and that is the eternal testimony of the sublime fecundity of our God. The son of Mary is also the Son of God. Our duty is to proclaim today the glory of this indescribable generation of God from God, of Light from Light.

      If in the Mass at Midnight we, together with the Father, have given thanks also to the Virgin Mary, and if in the Mass at Dawn we have received the invitation to imitate the shepherds, in the Mass during the Day we celebrate Christ who is the Light. He has illuminated the cosmos of creation and has shaped man in the most sublime light of the intellect and in the image of God so that man can become all light, defying himself through faith and the works that please God and reaching the everlasting day that never turns into night.

     Saint Jerome says that for the saint even sleep is prayer. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus wants his sleep to be short so that he will not miss the opportunity to be the echo of the everlasting singing of angels praising God. Moreover, he wants that even when his body sleeps, his soul must be awake conversing with the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost: with God.

     The consecrated Virgins are dedicated to this vigilant prayer. These chosen women have answered promptly to the Lord who to every one of them has lovingly said “I’ll make you my bride in justice and in right, in love and in goodness. I will make you my bride in loyalty and you will know the Lord.” The bride who “knows”, loves and feels to be loved is vigilant and not just when she is waiting for the groom, just like the wise virgins of the Gospel.  With the burning lamp of love and a good reserve of oil that means perseverance, vigilance and readiness in listening, the consecrated Virgin vigils every day with Christ, carries the light of Christ to the world and reminds all of the significance of today’s mystery “The true light that illuminates every man that is born (see Jn 1; 9), has come. All of us, my brothers and sisters, are illuminated and all shine. Let no one be excluded from this splendor, nobody should persist to remain immerse in darkness”. (Saint Sophronius , bishop. Speech # 3 on “ Hypapante” 6,7; page 87, 3,3291-3293)

 

 

                                                    

 

 

                                                           

 

SPIRITUAL READING

The First Life of St. Francis

by Thomas of Celano

 

Of the manger that he made on Christmas day

There was in that place a man named John, of good repute, but of better life, whom blessed Francis loved with special affection, because, having been a man of the most noble and honorable position in his town, he had trampled on the nobility of the flesh, and followed after the nobility of the mind. This man did blessed Francis send for (as he was often wont) about fifteen days before the Nativity of the Lord, and said to him, "If you will that we celebrate the present festival of the Lord at Greccio, make haste to go before and diligently prepare what I tell you. For I would make memorial of that Child who was born in Bethlehem, and in some sort behold with bodily eyes His infant hardships; how He lay in a manger on the hay, with the ox and the ass standing by." When the good and faithful man heard it, he made haste and prepared in the aforesaid place all the things that the Saint had told him of.
. The day of gladness drew nigh; the time of exultation arrived. The brethren were summoned from many places;53 the men and women of that town with exulting hearts prepared tapers and torches, as they were able to illuminate that night which with its radiant Star has illuminated all the days and years. At length the Saint of God came, and finding all things prepared, beheld them and rejoiced. The manger had been made ready, the hay ass was led in. There Simplicity was honored, Poverty exalted, Humility commended; and of Greccio there was made as it were a new Bethlehem. The night was lit up as the day and was delightful to men and beasts. The people came, and at the new Mystery rejoiced with new rejoicing. The woodland rang with voices, the rocks made answer to the jubilant throng. The brethren sang, yielding due praises to the Lord, and all that night resounded with jubilation. The Saint of God stood before the manger, full of sighs, overcome with tenderness and filled with wondrous joy. The solemnities of Mass were celebrated over the manger, and the priest enjoyed a new consolation.	53 A technical term by which the early Franciscan convents were known [see the explanation above].
The Saint of God was vested with Levitical ornaments, for he was a Levite,54 and with sonorous voice chanted the holy Gospel--an earnest, sweet, clear and loud-sounding voice; inviting all to the highest rewards. Then he preached to the people who stood around, and uttered mellifluous words concerning the birth of the poor King and the little town of Bethlehem. (And often, when he would name Christ Jesus, aglow with exceeding love he would call Him the Child of Bethlehem, and, uttering the word "Bethlehem" in the manner of a sheep bleating, he filled his mouth with the sound, but even more his whole self with the sweet affection. Moreover, in naming "the Child of Bethlehem" or "Jesus" he would, as it were, lick his lips, relishing with happy palate, and swallowing the sweetness of that word.) There the gifts of the Almighty were multiplied, and a vision of wondrous efficacy was seen by a certain man; for in the manger, he saw a little child lying lifeless, to whom the Saint of God seemed to draw near and (as it were) to rouse the child from the lethargy of sleep. Nor was this vision incongruous; for the child Jesus had been given over to forgetfulness in the hearts of many in whom, by the working of His Grace, He was raised up again through His servant Francis and imprinted on a diligent memory. At length the solemn vigil was ended, and each one returned with joy to his own place.	54[Clerical robes. A Levite is technically a person in minor clerical orders although it can be used of a deacon as well. Francis never became a priest.]

 

 

   

 

 

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[1] The Gelasian and Gregorian Sacramentary tell of the three Masses. However, at the beginning of the V century there was only one Mass, the one of the Day, which was celebrated in Saint Peter Church. The institution of the Midnight Mass happened at the end of the V century. To explain why we have three Masses Dom Prosper Guerenguer, OSB, wrote that they “were needed “to celebrate Three births: “Why three Births? He is born tonight from the Blessed Virgin; He will be borne by Grace in the hearts of the shepherds that are the beginning of Christianity; he will be born forever in the heart of His Father in the splendor of Saints: this triple birth must be honored with a triple homage”.

[2] “Quickly will the Lord execute sentence upon the earth “(Rm 9, 28 Is 10,230). On Christmas 2006, Pope Benedict XVI commented this biblical sentence: “The Fathers interpreted this sentence having two meanings. The Son is the Word, the Logos; the eternal Word has become little- so little to enter in a manger. It has become a child so that we can understand the Word. In this way God teaches us how to love children”