The Nativity of the Lord-Vigil Mass, Mt. 1, 1-25

I welcome you to our (…) church for this midnight service. We can only contemplate the mystery of Christmas when we can stop and contemplate in silence the message that is proclaimed to us anew year after year. The wonder and attitude of a child are essential means for us to receive the good news of this night. The reason for this joy is straightforward: it is the birth of a child, the Savior of the whole world; it instills new hope in all people who long for peace, justice, and Love. What sign does this child bring us? Vulnerability, poverty, weakness and humility. The Son of God appropriates what the world has categorically rejected. We will only experience the miracle of Christmas peace when we accept the gifts that Jesus brought us. As Pope Paul VI said, Jesus’ peace is the foundation of the “civilization of love.” 

The Evangelist Luke speaks of the birth of Jesus Christ. In a simple and yet evocative narrative, he applies the established structure of the missionary proclamation, in which we find three levels: the chronological-historical description of the event, the transmission of the message to the shepherds, the finding of Jesus and the reception of the message of salvation with the subsequent transmission of one’s experience to others. Let us first focus and reflect on the genuinely detailed description of the event based on historical facts: “In those days, a decree went out… And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David…” (cf. Lk 2:1-4). God promised that “the one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from the days of eternity,” will come out of Bethlehem (cf. Mic 5:1). Paradoxical as the course of history is, God will keep his promise. Why? Because Love is patient with details!

Although the description of Jesus’ birth is brief, it nevertheless foreshadows his entire Paschal mystery in detail. “And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). She wrapped him in swaddling clothes. – Jesus takes upon himself Adam’s nakedness (“I was afraid because I was naked” Gen 3:10) and needs to be wrapped in swaddling clothes by the loving hands of his mother. Just as he later dies naked and needs Joseph of Arimathea to “wrap him in linen cloths and lay him in a tomb” (cf. Lk 23:53).

In She laid him in a manger. We are accustomed to the manager being an integral part of the Christmas idyll. However, initially, it was a place where food was stored for the animals. In the manger lies the one who will later say: “Take and eat: this is my body” (Mt 24:26) and will offer himself defenselessly as food to those who stand before this mystery like animals before a handful of hay. In this way, she satisfies Adam’s hunger for the fruit “good for eating, beautiful to the sight, and delightful to know,” which the Woman gave him (cf. Gen 3:6). At the same time, she wants it to be the Woman again who will give this new food to every Adam who “in the sweat of his brow” (Gen 3:19) eats bread that is unable to satisfy his hunger. However, one should not reach for the manger as if for the fruit “good for eating, beautiful to the sight, and delightful to know.” On the contrary, one must stoop to the manager. The food placed in the manger is thus available to anyone willing to stoop. 

There is no room for them in the inn. – Jesus already takes upon himself the human loneliness caused by sin, to later carry it on his shoulders “to the place called the Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is Golgotha” (Jn 19:17). Thus, he takes upon himself Adam’s expulsion from Paradise (cf. Gen 3:23), to welcome him there again himself. Love is patient with the details! How can we reciprocate this Love? This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes – “All of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27). There was no room for them – “Do not sit in the first place, but in the last place” (cf. Lk 14:7-11). Laid in a manger – “You give them to eat!” (Lk 9:14). In Luke’s passage, we also notice that two motifs complement each other here: the visible poverty of Jesus’ human life and the mysteriously hidden glory of God with which Jesus comes among people. Only a few humble and poor shepherds recognize in Jesus the promised Messiah: This is a unique sign of God, with which a new era in human history and each of us begins. And what about us? Do we recognize him?! Do we worship him?! Do we rejoice that he has come among us again? The reality cannot be denied: “Do not be afraid! I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). He is truly Emmanuel – God with us.