The Solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, December 25, 2021

Luke 2:15–20

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “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. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

The evening had begun much like every other evening.  The shepherds, rough fellows in their smelly clothes, had rounded up their flocks into a circle that was easy to watch, and they ate some of their store of bread and drank from their small store of wine.  Weary from the day, they spoke little.  Before it grew too dark, they played simple games.  Two or three of them readied themselves to keep the first watch of the night.  They would stay up and keep an eye out for wolves, thieves, and the small but deadly lions that roamed about at that time.  Each watch went as long as four or five hours and, at if they were lucky, it would be a monotonous shift.  The chill in the air would help them stay awake.

And then came the Angel, shining so brightly that the features of his face could hardly be made out.  His brilliance woke the shepherds who were sleeping, and all shaded their eyes and stood up.  He spoke of a Savior born in nearby Bethlehem, and that the sign of this was a woman who had given birth and laid her Child in a manger.  Then all around them appeared blazing multitudes of angels who sang of God’s glory and of peace to the earth.  And as suddenly as they appeared, they were gone, for God’s heralds do not linger after they convey his message.  Lighting their lamps, some of the shepherds trudged off across the field to see this wondrous Child: “The shepherds said to one another, “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.”  The Greek means something more like, “they went, earnestly desiring”.  “They found” more precisely means that they “discovered through searching”.  It would have proven a long and uncertain trek, especially at night.  The Greek text hints at their difficulties in finding the Child.  But when they found him and his parents, there was no mistaking the truth of the Angel’s words.  “When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.”  The phrase translated here as “they made known” also means “they knew”, and so the shepherds understood the message of the angel and they told what they had heard to Mary and Joseph.

“All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.”  The phrase “all who heard” seems to contradict the image most of us have of the Nativity, that only Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were present.  But as we also read that Jesus was born outside the town because “there was no room for them in the inn”, we can suppose that the couple had hunted for a place to stay within the town.  Their plight would have attracted sympathy, and one of the townsfolk may have suggested they take refuge in one of the small caves outside the town walls.  Some of the women of the place may have gone with them, one carrying a jar of water and another ready to act as midwife.  For anyone but Mary and Joseph, this birth was a purely human situation, novel only for the urgent need of the couple.  The arrival of the shepherds changed that.  All present wondered exceedingly at what the shepherds told them.  The newborn Infant appeared no different from any other except, laid in a trough, he seemed a little pathetic.  And yet the shepherds had seen and heard angels speaking of this Child as the Savior.

“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”  The word translated here as “kept” means “was keeping safe”, “was keeping in mind”.  The verb is in the imperfect tense, meaning that her action was not limited to this single occasion, but that she pondered through time.  The imperfect tense signifies a continuous action in the past.  Long after the Birth of her Son, she was turning over all these words, as the Greek says, in her mind.  Let us consider, for a moment, what Mary would have known and not known beforehand of this Birth: she knew that her Child was the Son of God; she knew, through the Prophet Micah, that he would be born in Bethlehem.  She did not know that she would give birth in a cave.  She did not know that her Son’s arrival would be announced by angels to shepherds.  What was God doing, allowing his Son to be born in poverty?  Why would he announce this to shepherds?  

“Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.”  We do not know what became of these shepherds.  We are not told that shepherds were among Christ’s followers.  But when the Lord began to preach and to tell parables, he spoke much of shepherds.  Indeed, he called himself “the Good Shepherd” who would lay down his life for his sheep.  

I hope everyone has a Holy Christmas!  I will remember all who read these reflections in my Mass tomorrow morning!