by Fr. Tommy Lane
Let us adore baby Jesus in the manger. A baby easily wins the heart and love of anyone with human feelings, but how much more does this baby win our heart and love. Let us kneel before baby Jesus and thank him for coming to save us. Thank baby Jesus now in your own words.
Imagine, Jesus, the Son of God and our Savior, born in a stable and placed in a manger instead of in a cot! When God comes, he usually comes in humility, silently, and peacefully, without causing a great disturbance. God’s humble coming in Jesus would not surprise us if we knew God better. But of course, we will never know God sufficiently to understand. So, no matter how much we try to understand God becoming human in Jesus, we will not be able to comprehend; it will remain a mystery. The best reaction is that of the shepherds—simply to praise God. Let us praise God now in our own words.
As we look on baby Jesus, we think of the mystery of God’s love for us. Why did God who is almighty and all-powerful become small and powerless as a baby? Quite simply, out of love for us. God became human so that we might become more like God. Jesus if you had not come as a human like us, we might have had difficulty in believing that God really loved us. But now we know for sure. John the Evangelist says, “This is the revelation of God’s love for us, that God sent his only Son into the world that we might have life through him.” (1 John 4:9) Let us thank God for revealing his love for us in Jesus, that he who is so big and powerful became so small and weak for us, that he became one of us, to help us be more like him, to have life through him.
As we see baby Jesus in the manger, we reflect on God’s way being a way of gentleness and tenderness; God’s way is not one of violence but gentleness. There is a lack of goodness and love in the world, but God is tender and loving. As we look on baby Jesus in the manger, we see that he is the answer to today’s problems. Instead of violence, in baby Jesus in the manger we see gentleness; instead of hatred, in baby Jesus in the manger we see tenderness; instead of selfishness, in baby Jesus in the manger we see love for us. Let us ask baby Jesus to help us to be gentle, tender, and loving with those around us as he was in the manger.
Jesus, in the manger you give us hope. In the darkness of our world, your light has shone. Your coming in gentleness encourages us to hold out the hand of reconciliation, to help one another, to work for peace. We remember the message of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace.” Baby Jesus, help us to be people of peace and to spread peace everywhere we go. Let us pray now for peace.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 1997
More Homilies for Christmas
Christmas: God’s love for you is out of this world 2015
Related Homilies: Now I know why you had to do it: a Christmas Parable
mp3 meditation: Baby Jesus surrounded by the animals (quality reduced)
stories for Christmas
Inexplicable light in form of embryo in Guadalupe