Living the Mystery of the Incarnation Fr. Mark Greenaway-Robbins, December 24th & 25th, 2013.
Part 1 – Midnight Mass In Bethlehem, at the Church of the Nativity, I have knelt, like some of you, at the traditional site of the birth of Jesus. On the outskirts of Bethlehem, I have stood, in what tradition describes, as the Shepherd’s Fields and sung Christmas carols – on a glorious autumnal day. In Nazareth, I have sat awe-struck in the Basilica of the Church of the Annunciation, with the whisperings of the Magnificat in the air. Tonight, as the Crib was blessed these sacred moments, where the veil is thin between heaven and earth, stir in my soul. The glorious interpretation of the Gloria in excelsis, the song of the angels, sung at this Mass carries my being, perhaps yours too, heavenwards. It is as if we can hear that first chorus of praise by heavenly beings. It will soon be midnight, on a Wednesday in the depths of winter, on the western edge of a vast continent, seemingly a world away from the Middle East – in time and space. So what? What does it matter? What difference does it make whether or not we celebrate the Nativity of Jesus the Christ? One year ago, many of us gathered to celebrate the Nativity, here in this sacred space. Yes, the Nativity takes us to the epicenter of the mystery of the Incarnation. How have you changed in the last year since celebrating the mystery of the Incarnation through the Nativity? What fruits will be borne in your life in the year to come through your participation in these mysteries?” I come from prayer, in which asking myself for what cause we are in this world, I have learnt that we are in it only to receive and carry the sweet Jesus, on our tongue by announcing him, in our arms by doing good works, on our shoulders by bearing his yoke, his drynesses and sterilities, and thus in our interior and exterior senses. O how blessed are they that carry him sweetly and constantly! Francis de Sales. Letter 8. To Madame de Chantal. 16th November, 1605.
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