Mt 1:18-25 What Child Is This?
We love children. If we could, we would consume them, gobble them up, starting with their tiny little feet! Everyone should love children and children should know how much they are loved. The birth of our Lord is rich in virtue and mystery.
Seek that which is small. Seek the beauty that is inherited by the meek and humble of heart: seek that which is small. Go after the little things in life which we take for granted. Find pleasure in the little things. What did I appreciate today? Do I realize that even the Lord took time to be a child? The Lord loves the lowly. He gives a second glance to the widow, the orphan, the lonely and the abandoned. His creation is enormous and yet personal, very personal. He enters the world just for me and I entered the world just for Him. The Lord reveals his beautiful heart in many ways but especially through the tiny town in which he was born; in the insignificant family in which he was taken into, and in the irrelevant nation in which he was sent to. He is confident in his smallness. The Lord cries out to us to let us know that he is with us. In fact, that he is one with us. Do not be afraid. Seek the Lord who is great and became small.
Seek that which is near to you. Where is the Lord? Above us? No. Below us? No. The Lord is near to us. In fact, “God is with us.” He is exactly where we least expect. He is in the stable, lying in a manger. How often do I wonder where the Lord is in my life? Do I go through the glitter or garbage to look? Do I seek the Lord’s Will in the shiny things or in silvery bells? Seek him where you least expect him to be. Seek him in the inconvenient, silent corners of our world. Seek him in quiet of your prayers. Allow him to reveal the mystery of who you are. This Christmas, give to the Lord the one gift he is waiting to receive. He wants your heart. Now, give it to him and allow him to do something beautiful with it. Take time to pray, take a break from this world and seek the Lord that is near to you. Do not settle for counterfeits. Do not settle for less. Go for the best! Give the Lord your heart and allow him to give it to others. Be the ultimate gift to a friend, a family member, a love. Do not expose anyone to shame. Do not divorce anyone from your heart, mind or will. Listen to the angel that is near to you and follow the guidance of the Love of your life: Do not be afraid to take him or her, this or that person into the temple of your heart or your soul. For it is through the Holy Spirit that the Lord is present among us. Seek those that are near to you and fulfill today what the Lord said through the prophet: God is with us. Seek the Lord who is near to us in the Sacraments.
Seek that which is obvious. Do good, avoid evil. Seek forgiveness rather than revenge; love rather than lust; knowledge rather than good grades; meaning rather than money; honor rather than power. You know what the Lord demands from you. Every time you sin, the devil says, “I got you!” Every time you confess, the Lord says, “I got you.” In fact, the Lord says many things to me, all of which are true and good, but most importantly, loving. The devil says, “I made you fall.” The Lord says, “I caught you. You’re in my arms now.” See the face of the Lord. The birth of Christ reveals the mystery of who God is. No masks. The Lord bears all. He wears no mask and yet this is, and will always be, the shocker to all mankind. The Incarnation is a shocker to us all. Seek from the Lord that which is obvious: his mercy and love.
Today, let us meditate on God's Word and seek the child that is. If I allow the Lord to reveal the mystery of who I am, then I will discover what Child is this.
Father,
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful meditation and so true!
This morning I went running. I put on gloves. I did not have a matching set. I had one black and one white. I lost their pairs.
Anyways, this normally would have bothered me but because it was so cold I ran with the two very different colored gloves. As I ran, I kept looking at my hands. Light and dark...and it struck me.
We all are conduits for good or evil. It is up to us to choose what side, which direction we will follow everyday or even every second! It reminded me of the times you mentioned in Mass about evil entering the world through us. To make sure that we are wearing the white gloves, we must fill ourselves with things of God. As you have said so many times before "garbage in, garbage out". Filling ourselves with things of God makes it much easier to discern and be obedient to His will. Which is what we all should strive to do.
Thank you for your daily meditations and spiritual direction.
Peace, Rose
ps-Mary Rose liked the clip art. :)
The best yet! Simple words yet so profoud
ReplyDeleteSeek that which is small....
Seek that which is near to you....
Seek that which is obvious.....
As I look at my current life, I can see that I have definitely been seeking God, but not always in the little things, in those who are unlike me in values and lifestyle, or in those I don't like. I have to remember to seek Him AND share Him where ever I go because I may be the only one that person meets that will share the TRUTH and love of the Lord.
ReplyDeleteIn the summer, coming home from adoration in the middle of the night/early morning I would drive thru McDonalds on my way home. After some time the guy at the window asked me what I was doing out every morning at that hour. I told him about adoration, he had been baptized and confirmed Catholic but didn't even know what the Eucharist was, so I explained and shared information, brought him a rosary. Afer a couple months he seemed to have lost interest, so I quit talking about it with him but I did keep up conversations about him. I was thinking, "O well I tried and he's not really interested". I quit going for a while. When I returned, he said,"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?",he missed me. I didn't share anything more for the next month or so, then this morning when I went through, he told me he went to adorationat at 4AM, saw my car but coulden't get in. I was surprised and happy, gave him the code and he said he wanted to go to mass too!
You never know what God can do with an open heart and (patience):)
My heritage is Mexican, and I can totally relate to when you said in your homily that you being Italian, when a new baby arrives, everyone goes for those adorable feet and kiss them and want to consume them. Me too! I go for those precious baby feet first. I smell them. I kiss them. and I remember feeling like I wanted to "eat my baby girls up". I like how you compared/related this to Jesus, how he came to us from the very beginning,conception, then being born and how we 'eat' him during communion. I love the connection you made so we can better understand, at least I do. I CAN'T WAIT FOR GRANDBABIES! Thank you padresito for your awesome homily this morning.
ReplyDeleteps - Don't know if you remember, understandably, but after Mass, that was our sweet family friend Kaela who asked you when confession was going to be, and that was my daughter Lisa who you pulled in and said "you too!" haha, Here's a mama thanking you for that.I should go to confession too!
A baby is coming to our family! I'm going to be a grandma! finally!
ReplyDelete