Astonishment

“Again and again it astonishes us that God makes himself a child so that we may love Him, so that we may dare to love Him, and as a child trustingly lets Himself be taken into our arm.” (Pope Benedict XVI).

Adoration of the Kings (from the Monforte Altarpiece)

Imagine how things were in that stable in Bethlehem.  Imagine how the animals must have appeared when the Magi visited.  Imagine the angels giving Praise and Glory to God.  Imagine the shepherds praising the Messiah.  Imagine the Blessed Virgin – so young and sweet.  Imagine her trying to understand the meaning of this mysterious birth.

Tradition tells us that the Blessed Virgin did not give birth in the ordinary way with pain and labour.  Instead – because she had no sin – she was not called to deliver her Child naturally in the way that we understand.  Instead, the Christ Child appeared through a process like manifestation, where He appeared from inside to outside the Virgin’s womb to preserve her virginity.

Now, this is important of course, because to understand the true miracle of this birth, one must first understand the true miracle of Christ coming to the Earth.  After all, it is nothing to imagine that Christ was born in a miraculous manner.  It is nothing to imagine the Kingdom of Heaven contained in that Manager…

“Zechariah said, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham.’” (Luke 1:67–79).

In the stillness of the evening, and in the quiet of the night, it is a wonder to contemplate the Glory of God contained in a tiny little baby born of a poor little Virgin inside a humble little stable and placed in a tiny little manger.  And I wonder if the smallness and simplicity of all of this is really what causes all this astonishment after all.  After all, only an infinitely benevolent God would ever be able to understand the hardness of my heart to know that it would take a little tiny Baby curled up inside a manager and wrapped in swaddling clothes to soften me…

“Again and again the beauty of this Gospel touches our hearts...  Again and again it astonishes us that God makes himself a child so that we may love Him, so that we may dare to love Him, and as a child trustingly lets Himself be taken into our arms. It is as if God were saying: I know that My glory frightens you, and that you are trying to assert yourself in the face of My grandeur. So now I am coming to you as a Child, so that you can accept Me and love Me.” (Pope Benedict XVI).

And I consider that with astonishment today.  For my God is an awesome God…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.