These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Lk 2:1-14)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122524-Night.cfm
May the blessings of Christmas be yours in abundance. May Christ be born in us!
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 25)
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Good and upright is the LORD; thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble his way.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122324.cfm
O EMMANUEL, our King and our Lawgiver, the anointed of the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Thus says the LORD: You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD; he shall be peace. (Micah 5:1-4a)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122224.cfm
The One whose coming we await does not offer tax cuts for billionaires nor mass deportations. Rather the One who comes is the Good Shepherd who feeds the hungry and welcomes the stranger.
Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." (Lk 1:39-45)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122124.cfm
Elizabeth speaks for us all when she asks why “the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Yet Mary comes bearing the most precious gift. May we share Mary’s faith who trusted “that what was spoken by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. (Lk 1:26-38)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122024.cfm
Like Zechariah, Mary also had a question about how all this was to take place. Unlike Zechariah who is punished with being unable to speak, Mary responds to the angel Gabriel with: May it be done to me according to your word. It’s probably best NOT to tick off Gabriel!
