FEAST OF THE NATIVITY

St. Paul writes to the Galatians, "The Gospel that was preached of me is not after man...but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."  Indeed, all of Scriptures and the history of the Church is the record of the continuous and ongoing revelation of Christ to the human heart, in and through the Church.

Even in Old Testament times, the pre-incarnate Christ--as the second person of the pre-eternal Trinity--revealed Himself to the holy prophet Moses in the burning bush, and again upon Mt. Sinai, when he revealed to the children of Israel the Ten Commandments. 

Then finally--in the fullness of time--He revealed Himself in the flesh, having taken upon himself through the pure blood of the Virgin our human nature.  Truly, the Son of God became man that the sons and daughters of men might become gods by grace, partakers of the divine nature.

And so it was the incarnate Christ was laid in a manger within a cave of dumb beasts on a cold winter's night, where the shepherds--illumined by divine revelation--came to worship the newborn King.  Likewise did the Wise Men journey from the East--guided by the revelation of God--bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 

Christ revealed himself to Herod as well, but the evil king had no desire to worship Him.  Along with such demonically inspired tyrants a Hitler, Stalin and Mao, he unleashed a bloodbath--brutally slaughtering the Holy Innocents in a futile attempt to destroy the King of Peace. 

But why, one may ask, would God permit such senseless slaughter?  Could not He Who commands legions of angels have called down God's wrath upon the evil king?  Indeed He could have.  The same Son of God Who saved the holy children in the furnace could surely--even as a newborn child--have saved the Holy Innocents from an unjust death.

Nevertheless, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, while the power of God is made perfect in weakness.  Truly we are all destined to die....Our sojourn within this veil of tears is but a pilgrimage towards that place where there is neither sickness nor sorrow, nor any more sighing, but life everlasting. The Holy Innocents--in exchange for a brief moment of pain--have inherited the inconceivable blessing of eternal life in God's heavenly Kingdom.