On this second day of Christmas, we continue to ponder and wonder at God’s great love for us. The God of heaven and earth, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, has taken on our lowly human nature. He has emptied Himself totally. He became a helpless, dependent baby in the arms of His Mother and St. Joseph. The glories of His heavenly throne room are temporarily replaced with the cold poverty of a stable cave.
He does not wear fine robes; rather, the Bread of Life now lies in swaddling clothes in a feed bucket for animals. He does not come into this world in a palace or the heights of power. He does not grasp at worldly power. His bedding is that of the animals. The incense of prayers rising to heaven is replaced by the stench of dung. The Lord of all is surrounded by the rank odor of sin and death. His love is so infinite that He surrenders everything in order to save us.
Love is self-emptying. Every Christmas we are invited to see the infinite love God has for us in the infant Jesus’ self-emptying. Do we understand the true nature of God’s love? As Fr. Gabriel of Mary Magdalene writes in Divine Intimacy: “When creating us, God loved us so much that He made us to His own image and likeness: when redeeming us, He loved us so much that He made Himself in our image!”
The Most Holy Trinity is always trying to show us how much we are loved. This is why God Himself entered into human history. He could have saved us by other means, but He chose to enter fully into our fallen human experience in order to redeem us. He will stop at nothing to rescue us from darkness. Do we grasp the profundity of God’s love for us and how it is meant to radically transform us? Again borrowing from Fr. Gabriel of Mary Magdalene:
God is Love! An immense treasure is contained in these words, and it is the treasure which God discloses to souls who devoutly contemplate the Incarnate Word. Until we comprehend that God is infinite love and infinite benevolence, who gives Himself and extends Himself to all men in order to communicate to them His goodness and His happiness, our spiritual life has still just begun; it has not yet developed or deepened. Only when the soul, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, has penetrated the mystery of divine charity, only then does the spiritual life attain to full maturity.
This Christmas Octave is meant to lead us to the reality of God’s love for us. If we do not delve into the depths of God’s love, we cannot grow as disciples. It is His love that is meant to fuel our lives.
This is not simply another Christmas. Every Christmas is an invitation to receive God’s love and pour it out upon others. That invitation can only be answered through prayer and attending Mass. We must be willing to open ourselves up to these great mysteries in prayer.
We cannot better understand the infinite love of our God, than by drawing near to the humble manger where He lies, made flesh for us. “The virtues and attributes of God are known in God, through the mysteries of God made man,” says St. John of the Cross (cf. SC, 37,2); and among these attributes the first is charity, which constitutes the very essence of God. From the silent, loving contemplation of the Infant Jesus, there is easily aroused in us a more profound and penetrating sense of His infinite love: we no longer merely believe, but in a certain way, we know by experience God’s love for us.
The Christmas Octave lends itself to profound prayer. We must step away from the noise and hustle of Christmas festivities in order to make our silent way in the darkness of a cold winter’s night to the Christ child lying in the manger. He is waiting for you and me. He wants us to come to Him in silent adoration. To bring our poverty, weakness, sins, illnesses, worries, and our whole being to Him. In the burning furnace of His Sacred Heart we will find peace, joy, and healing. We will encounter the fire of His love burning brightly in the darkness.
Through loving contemplation of the Infant Jesus in prayer, He will penetrate the depths of our souls with His love. If we never stop to truly rest in this great mystery in prayer, then this season will pass by with little effect on our lives. We will not be able to truly see how much He loves each one of us. We will not experience the burning fire of His love lying in the manger, and we will walk into the cold of January with a missed opportunity.
Christmas is not over. It is only the second day. We celebrate 8 days of Christmas Day. Don’t miss the opportunity to contemplate the gift of God’s love throughout these days and the remainder of the Christmas season. If you need help in starting this deeper prayer begin with this portion of a colloquy written by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene:
O all-powerful and eternal Trinity! O sweet, ineffable charity! Who would not be inflamed by such love? What heart could keep itself from being consumed by You?
O abyss of charity! You have so closely bound Yourself to Your creatures that it seems that You cannot live without them! Nevertheless You are our God! You have no need of us. Our good adds nothing to Your greatness, for You are immutable. Our misfortune cannot harm You, O God, sovereign, eternal Goodness! Then what urges You to such mercy? Love—for You have no obligation toward us and no need of us. Then, O infinite God, who brings You to me, a little creature? No one but Yourself, O Fire of Love! Love alone has always urged You, and love still urges You!
The only gift that matters this Christmas is the infinite love being poured out upon us by the Infant Jesus.
Adoration of the Magi by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
