Adoration of the Shepherds, van Honthorst c.1622, Pomeranian State Museum, Greifswald, Germany.

Click here to read today’s Sunday Mass Readings for 4th Advent.

Click here to read Morning Mass Readings of the Nativity of the Lord.

[The angel said to Mary] “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High….”  Luke 1:31-32.

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This Sunday and Monday’s readings contain the wonder, first, of the Annunciation, (as the conception of the Lord is called) on March 25, where the angel Gabriel asked Mary to agree to God’s will that she bear a child conceived by the Holy Spirit of God, and her “yes” which transformed the world, and nine months later the nativity of the Lord on December 25. It was the heralding of and then the birth of the Son of God, and the rebirth of each one of us, invited into the joy-filled mystery of God-with-us. It was the fulfillment of the ancient promise made in Genesis 3:15 that one day a woman would crush the head of the ancient serpent of evil and thereby enable the restoration of righteousness in the world for those of us prepared to accept it. And it was the helpless newborn, utterly dependent on those around him, who fulfilled this prophecy from ancient times. Christmas is such a complete mystery: a helpless babe, utter poverty, unable even to find decent shelter in an alien town, nursed by a young girl, and protected by Joseph, almost universally shown as an old man (though that is probably because of later thinking than reality).

Then there are the shepherds in the fields abiding – a sure sign, by the way, that Jesus was not born in the depths of winter; the Holy Land can be very cold in December. But the tradition of a winter birth of the savior has more to do with the early church competing with pagan festivals than literal chronological truth. Now many scholars say with conviction that shepherds in those days were at the bottom of society’s barrel, considered to be thieves and robbers according to several fairly contemporary social references. However that is disputed: they may have been more respectable than that. But one thing is pretty certain: they were very poor. But it was to such as these that the angels announced the Good News before anyone else, and certainly before the highest in society, represented by the three wise men, traditionally (though not in scripture) the three kings. This Child of God was, however, sent to the high, middle a low of every society everywhere, seen in his first moments here on earth.

So Advent ends with its promise of redemption, and Christmas is here, with its fulfillment of that promise. We celebrate the most important moment in human history on this day. Everyone, without exception, is invited into the redeeming and fulfilling presence on the One who accepts us all, warts and all. Each and every one of us is valuable in the eyes of God. Each one of us is unique in the God’s eyes. We are each precious beyond wonder in God’s eyes. That might be difficult for some to understand let alone accept. But there is is, the open invitation to be welcomed into God’s love and life. And it began – today!

Angels and Shepherds, Jason Corre.

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