The Christmas Mysteries

 

St. Peter Chrysologus was the bishop of Ravenna (Italy) in the 5th Century.

His name means "he of the golden words" and he is sometime called the "doctor of homilies" because he was so eloquent in his preaching.

Here's a beautiful rich  homily that ties together all of the Christmas mysteries: the nativity (birth of Our Lord), the baptism of Jesus by St. John in the Jordan, the magi coming with their gifts, Jesus changing water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana, and the holy Mass which brings the miracle of Christmas to every altar in every Catholic church.  All in just a page of two!  There's a lot to meditate on and unpack in here.

Interestingly, in the Roman rite (the one we celebrate) all of these mysteries are observed in the Christmas season liturgies except the wedding feast at Cana.  Eastern Catholics work that into Christmas too.  

This would be good for your prayer this Wednesday, January 6th, the feast of Epiphany.  (Some U.S. dioceses including ours move Epiphany up to Sunday)

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From a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop

(Sermo 160: PL 52, 620-622)

In choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us

In the mystery of our Lord’s incarnation there were clear indications of his eternal Godhead. Yet the great events we celebrate today disclose and reveal in different ways the fact that God himself took a human body. Mortal man, enshrouded always in darkness, must not be left in ignorance, and so be deprived of what he can understand and retain only by grace.

In choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us. He therefore reveals himself in this way, in order that this great sacrament of his love may not be an occasion for us of great misunderstanding.

Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars.

Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.

So the Gentiles, who were the last, become the first: the faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles.

Today Christ enters the Jordan to wash away the sin of the world. John himself testifies that this is why he has come: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Today a servant lays his hand on the Lord, a man lays his hand on God, John lays his hand on Christ, not to forgive but to receive forgiveness.

Today, as the psalmist prophesied: The voice of the Lord is heard above the waters. What does the voice say? This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

Today the Holy Spirit hovers over the waters in the likeness of a dove. A dove announced to Noah that the flood had disappeared from the earth; so now a dove is to reveal that the world’s shipwreck is at an end for ever. The sign is no longer an olive-shoot of the old stock: instead, the Spirit pours out on Christ’s head the full richness of a new anointing by the Father, to fulfil what the psalmist had prophesied: Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

Today Christ works the first of his signs from heaven by turning water into wine. But water has still to be changed into the sacrament of his blood, so that Christ may offer spiritual drink from the chalice of his body, to fulfil the psalmist’s prophecy: How excellent is my chalice, warming my spirit.

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Here is my own Epiphany reflection.  I am no St. Peter Chrysologus (I wish I had his concise and powerful brevity) but hope it helps give some ideas to pray over.

It is based on the readings from last Sunday's Epiphany Mass

Homily – January 3, 2021 – Solemnity of Epiphany (liturgical) – Year B

At Mass today we anticipate the celebration of Epiphany on January 6^th, or “12^th Night” as it was sometimes called.   You know the song, the “12 Days of Christmas” – that’s the idea, the 12 days between the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus to the coming of the magi – the wise men from the east  - to adore him.  But instead of a kind of a goofy but fun song about lords a-leaping’ and maids a-milkin’, on Epiphany, we remember something much more serious – much more essential to our life as followers of Jesus Christ.

We celebrate our response to the nativity – the birth in time of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who became a man like us, born of the womb of the Bl. Virgin Mary.  In other words, on Christmas Day, we pause to be awed by the miracle and the glory of the Word becoming flesh.  But by the time we get to Epiphany, we have had some time to reflect on that and figure out what we should do now.  Or, to put it most simply, Christ was born, now what?  Just as the wise men from the east made a physical journey to respond to the birth of Christ --we have decisions to make.  We take a ‘journey of the heart’ – to figure out how to follow the Lord.

This short little vignette from St. Matthew’s Gospel gives us a blueprint and a pattern.  Every part of the story tells us something important for our spiritual life.

We start with the star itself.  There are lots of theories and speculation about just who these magi – these wise men – are, who follow that star.  Many scholars think that they may have been Chaldean or Persian astrologers.  Men who not only studied the stars – like our modern-day astronomers – but who actually worshipped them – thought that the stars were gods themselves.  Part of their journey is the realization that it is not nature that they are built to worship – however splendid it might be – but instead the Creator of the stars of night – of all of the material world.  We can imagine how astonished they are when they see the tiny little infant face of the Christ child, and realize that He is in fact the creator of the earth and the heavens.  But they recognize this instantly, because they have faith and their hearts remain open.

So should it be for us.  We should not fix our gaze primarily on the material world – the beauty of nature, nice homes and so on.  They are really just signs and pointers of something far greater, far more beautiful, that the God Who descended from Heaven holds out to those who are willing to follow Him and truly Worship Him.  Our Heavenly Home with the Trinity.

There’s something else we have to imitate in the wise men, in their gift of faith.  Some scholars say the star itself is a symbol of faith, because just as a star brings light to the night sky, so faith brings light to our mind and soul.  The faith of these magi is not just a “gut feeling.”  It is something far deeper.   It is something that drives them to follow the Lord.  To take extraordinary risks.  To leave everything else behind.  To enquire and ask and seek and consult and to pray.

Again, some scholars think that they may have traveled as long as two years.  Even with dromedaries and swift Arabian horses to speed their journy, traveling hundreds and hundreds of miles, hardly even stopping to eat or drink.  

They are willing to have their assumptions challenged and do anything necessary to get to the truth.  We see that because they naturally assume they are being led to Jerusalem, the royal city when the star points that way – because they are expecting a grand and royal king.  But they listen to the chief priests and scribes – those who are more learned than they in the way of faith – who explain to them the Scriptures and the ancient prophecies, revealing that the Divine Child will be born not in Jerusalem, but the little, poor, out-of-the-way town of Bethlehem.  Remember, they were pagans and did not know the Jewish Scriptures.

That’s a lesson in faith for us as well.  In our life of faith, we should never be content to just stop with what we learned about the faith back in 8^th grade and think that’s enough, that we know everything we need to know about how to get to Heaven.  We shouldn’t be that proud.   We should continue to read the Bible, study the Scriptures, take advantage of parish Bible studies, ask the priests when we have questions about the faith, and so on.   We should have a zeal and desire to know more and more about Jesus Christ, and make it a priority in our life to do that, no matter how old we are.

And once we start out, we continue to ask the Lord for a faith that continues to take risks, that does not fear.  That’s something we can easily miss in the story.  The magi are looking for a king.  They know full well that if they acknowledge another king besides Herod – so bent on his own power – that they are putting themselves at great risk.  But they do it anyway.  The wicked Herod – really, a figure of the devil Himself – tries to bribe them, flatter them, and more.   He wants them to do his dirty work for them, to get rid of this child.   But nothing works.  So he goes one step further: he tries outright trickery and deceit, trying to worm out of them the time and place of the birth of the Christ, supposedly so he can accompany them to worship Him, too.  As I said, Herod in a way represents the Devil, who is the Father of Lies, the one who tries to get us to worship himself instead of Christ.

But the Magi see through this ruse, they don’t fall for this.  They leave without him.

What does that tell us?  A lot.  It tells us that there will be always be those who try to deceive us with a false faith.  For example, we will soon likely have a President-elect who claims to be a practicing Catholic but has publicly committed and promised to use the power of government to destroy the life of innocent children in the womb.  We should never fall for that kind of pretense of faith, that kind of deceit.  For Christians, who believe that Christ sanctified human life at every stage from conception onward, because He Himself was a developing infant in the womb from the moment of the Annunciation, this is an unspeakably perverse distortion of the faith. But it tells us something even deeper:  Herod had too narrow a vision.  He was focused on his little kingdom of Judea, terrified that this newborn King would be a contender to his throne there.  But the reality is that Christ would rule everywhere, that He is the King of the Universe and King of Kings, and there was nothing Herod could do to change that fact.

So that should remind us that we should not become overly concerned about politics and worldly power, even though we remain engaged as necessary.  Because whatever happens with the kings of this world, our God reigns over all, even allowing evil to occur if it brings people closer to Our Father in Heaven.

When they finally arrived in Bethlehem, the wise men from the East knew instantly what they were called to do.  Because they were willing to follow the light of Christ, they were able to see something few others were able to see.  To most observers, who made no effort to follow the light of faith, they would have seen just a poor peasant woman, with a little child dressed in rags, in a stable not truly fit for human habitation.  A pitiable sight.  But the wise men saw more.  Much more.  They see shining through the beautiful face of this poor child the astonishing humility of the God-made-man.

They instinctively prostrate – bow down low before the child, in a humble posture of love and adoration.  And they begin to see why the Lord inspired them to bring their particular gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh – expensive treasures, to be sure, but ones fraught with meaning.  Gold as a sign that Jesus is King of Kings; incense as a sign that they want to sacrifice their lives to God Himself, present before them; and myrrh in recognition that He will die to save us all and open the gates of Heaven.  Because He was born to die on the Cross.

We are called to do much the same, every time we come to the holy sacrifice of the Mass.  To an outside observer, what we do here might not look like much.  A simple altar table, some bread, some wine, maybe 100 people gathered.  But with the eyes of faith, we see more.  Much more.  We see the ultimate truth.  The ultimate reality.  Truth in the flesh.

Because the moment the consecration is completed, I will lay on this altar the sacred Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the newborn King.  The same Jesus, under sacramental form, that the Blessed Virgin Mary laid in the manger.  As will every priest in every Catholic Church around the globe. We the Church of Christ pause to worship, to prostrate ourselves, to adore.

And like the Magi, return, once we have seen and even received the Christ, we are called to center our lives around that worship, no matter who tries to stop us or lie to us or punish us or get in the way.  Once the Truth has been revealed, we can only follow Him.