Isaiah 9:2-7 / Titus 2:11-14 / Luke 2:1-14
Back in the year 1223, St. Francis of Assisi set up the first Nativity scene that would eventually spread across the whole Church.
His intention of arranging the Nativity scene was to help the peasants who were uneducated and could not read the gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus.
In visual form, the poor people could see and understand the situation and the circumstances in which Jesus was born.
800 years later, the Nativity crib still has the visual significance and impact that it had back in the year 1223.
In churches and at homes and even in public places, the Nativity crib captures that significant moment when Jesus was born.
Along with that moment were all the characters who were intimately connected with the birth of Jesus as recorded in the gospels.
So in the crib with the baby Jesus are Mary, Joseph, a couple of shepherds with a couple of sheep, an ox and a donkey.
So as we admire the Nativity scene and the beautifully crafted statues in it, have we ever wondered which character we could relate with at this point in our lives.
Well, mothers could relate with Mary and rejoice with her as they carry their own babies in their arms.
Yet there is also the anxiety over the health and safety of their babies.
Husbands could relate with Joseph as he commits his life to caring and protecting mother and child.
But they also know how stressful it is to be the man of the house and maybe even the sole bread-winner.
Some of us might be able to relate with the shepherds who have to work away from home, and maybe could not be home for Christmas.
Some of us might even be able to relate with the sheep or the ox or the donkey.
Meaning to say that just like those animals, we feel that life is a burden just as the donkey is a beast of burden.
Or like the sheep and the ox, we pour out our lives in sacrifice for others and yet we don't feel appreciated or valued.
Yet whatever it is and whatever we may feel, gathering together in this Mass is like gathering together around the crib.
We focus our hearts on the Baby in the manger and we rejoice at His birth.
And we give thanks to God that we can be here to celebrate the birth of our Saviour.
Yes we give thanks because there are people who want to be here but they just can't.
Maybe let me ask you a riddle. What is it that you have in December that you don't have in any other month? Answer : The letter D.
Yes, D as in December, D also as in "depressed".
Yesterday (Christmas Eve) I went on my hospital duty.
I can't help feeling sorry for those who have to spend Christmas in the hospital.
They not only can't come to Church, they can't even be at home for Christmas. It can be depressing.
One of the patients was this lady who had a severe fall and her right arm and leg had become numb and weak. She was really depressed about what had happened to her.
Even when she made the sign of the cross, she used her left hand to take her right hand to make the sign of the cross.
So after saying the prayers, I gave her Holy Communion.
After saying "Amen", I had expected her to receive Holy Communion on the tongue.
But instead, her left hand took her right hand and with her right hand she struggled to hold the Host reverently and then slowly put it into her mouth.
What she did really caught me there, and by a flash of inspiration, I said something like : Wow, the way you held Jesus was like the manger that was holding the baby Jesus.
I myself was amazed with what I said. (Going to the hospital can give you this kind of inspiration)
Yet this is the Christmas message for me, and I want to share it with you.
We look at the baby Jesus and all the characters in the Nativity crib.
Yet we miss the manger, which is the feeding trough, or feeding tray of the animals.
It was in a manger that the Saviour of the world was lying in, and the gospel specifically mentioned it.
Yes, we may relate with the characters in the Nativity crib.
But may our hearts be like the manger in which the Lord Jesus will lay His head.
May our hearts tenderly carry the Lord Jesus, just like the lowly manger carried the Saviour.
Wishing you a merry and blessed Christmas.