+ Today we celebrate the birth of the impossible, the nativity of the
improbable: the coming to our earth of God-as-Man.
“And the Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us!” (Jn 1:14)
You know how when we are
excited about something we exclaim our joy by saying: “OH” – i.e. “O My
Goodness” “O For Heavens Sake” even “O God” or when communicating to a person:
“O Mary, O John” that was so nice of you! Well the same thing happened when the
Great Drama of our Salvation quickened its pace and its heartbeat in this last
week before Christmas:
We have just concluded the O Antiphon Series at the daily Evening
Prayer of the Church for the past seven days announcing the Royal Titles of the
coming Messiah: (in joy we cry out): O
Sapientia, O Adonai, O Radix Jesse, O Clavis David, O Oriens, O Rex Gentium, O
Emmanuel: translated: O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of
David, O Sunrise, O Sovereign of the nations, O our God with us – and now today we extend the “O
sentiment” three steps more: O Great Mystery, O Wondrous Exchange, O
Come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
The text: O Great Mystery (Magnum Mysterium) is part of the celebration of
the Midnight Hour (Matins) of the Divine Office for Christmas Day: O great mystery, and wondrous sacrament,
that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in their manger! Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy
to bear the Lord Christ. Alleluia.
For centuries, composers have
been inspired by the beautiful text depicting the birth of the new-born King
amongst the lowly animals and shepherds. It is a fitting affirmation of God’s
grace to the meek and the adoration of the Blessed Virgin. We will hear a majestic version sung by the Southwest Seminary Oratorio Chorus as
our communion meditation at this Mass – Morten Lauridsen’s rendition soars to
the height of the radiant star of Bethlehem. It is a truly stunning piece.
The central “O phrase” for our
celebration today, however, and fodder for our spiritual Christmas pondering is
this: O Wondrous exchange!
The
Creator of human nature deigned to take on a human body and soul, and be born
of the Virgin. He became man without having a human father and has bestowed on
us His divine nature! O Wondrous exchange!
This, of course, is
incomprehensible without faith –
God’s own light-giving gift – the
inner light of our souls, the warm glow of our hearts! With faith this exchange is beheld as an awesome event: God shares in our humanity, and we begin to
share in his divinity! O Wondrous exchange!
God is now capable of
suffering, capable of expiating (making up for) our sins by His sufferings, and
of healing us by his humiliations!
Blessed be God forever! O Wondrous exchange!
We must participate in this
exchange through faith. And the
astounding gift the Christ child has for us in this exchange is that those who
receive him by believing in Him have the power to become children of God – brothers and sisters of the Lord – and coheirs
with him of an everlasting Kingdom. O Wondrous exchange!
And so then, come, O come ye joyful and triumphant ones, this
Jubilee Year of Mercy, come ye poor and displaced ones, come ye homeless and ye
starving, come ye jobless and ye overburdened, come ye politically enslaved and
ye voiceless, come ye marginalized and downtrodden; come ye young and ye old, come ye sick and
infirm: come to Bethlehem and behold the King of angels; behold your Lord and
your Friend, come as shepherds came, leaving their flocks, drawing nigh to
gaze, with them to adore him with wonder, to embrace him with love, to reach
out to him with hope – and your life
will never be the same again!
May
the Spirit of the lowly, tiny and o so loving Child in the Animal’s Manger permeate your heart and soul, both
now, this Christmas Day, and forever! Amen.
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