The Babe of Bethlehem
Incarnate Love

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Today Christ is born, today our Saviour has appeared. These simple words mark the fulfillment of a promise made by God during the earliest days of mankind. If, by man's willful rejection of God, divine justice demanded a penalty, divine mercy would decree that God Himself, taking upon himself the nature of man, appear for our redemption.

Today, when the commercial comes first, it is difficult to understand that, for those of the Middle Ages, such a time as Christmas was a holiday in the true sense. The Child Jesus, and the tribulations His family endured at the time of His birth, were foremost in their minds. Of course, and this we too often forget as well, merry making was also a part of their celebration. We have lost both the essence and the joyful accidentals of Christmastide.

Francis of Assisi was unique, in an age where theological orthodoxy was the emphasis amongst the hierarchy, in his emphasis on the human nature of Jesus. For our loving Francis, the birth of the"Babe of Bethlehem" was the ultimate model of virtue. The greatness of God was hidden beneath the humility of a poor family, a King of Kings born with no fanfare and adored by few, a life fraught with difficulties from the earliest days. The greatest miracle, our capacity for total union with God, would come forth from this child - yet his circumstances of life could remind us that our own struggles can never be beyond those which He Himself endured.

Recall that, during the Middle Ages, constant struggle and pain was accepted as a part of every life. The joyous remembrance of the long-awaited appearance of a Saviour, for which mankind had hoped since the times of Adam, had a special significance. Though, indeed, tribulation is a part of the human condition, today we tend to have a notion that some earthly achievement or satisfaction can eliminate this (and so we search in vain!). But our medieval friends had a keen awareness of God, and, if today was trying, somehow divine providence worked through our situation. In the end, we would be united with Him in perfect joy.

Believing that God worked closely through His creatures (indeed, the truly saintly, as many a medieval miracle story would show, tended to meet Him quite openly, often when least expected), there was a special aspect of the idea of His Incarnation. When Jesus was born, a mysterious star heralded His arrival, but, otherwise, the world was unaware. There was no glory in His beginnings, no recognition of the immense change in the world that would result from this occurrence.

Christmas is a time of special joy, and these reflections may not fit the norm of that term at first glance. Nonetheless, since all of us are dealing with problems to some degree, it will do us well to recall that joy does not have to mean the emotional elation that we may not be feeling at the moment! Joy is not necessarily the sort that children find when they receive the present that danced through their heads with the sugarplums! It is security in being loved, hope for total and perfect happiness, a simple awareness that God created us out of love.

God fulfills all of His promises, and in a measure beyond that which our human minds can comprehend. But often He does so quietly - as he did in a stable at Bethlehem.

The offerings of the Eastern kings of old
Unto Our Lord were incense, myrrh and gold;
Incense because a God; gold as a king:
And myrrh as to a dying man they bring.
Instead of incense, Blessed Lord, if we
Can send a sigh or fervent prayer to thee:
Instead of myrrh if we can but provide
Tears that from penitential eyes do slide.
And though we have no gold, if for our part
We can present thee with a loving heart
Thou wilt accept: and say those Eastern kings
Did not present thee with more precious things.
Nathaniel Wanley