9781644135945

The Light of the World
He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in His name; who are
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” ( Jn 1:12 f.).
We are, then, the children of God, born to Him through the virginal birth of baptism, and
are filled with the spirit of His life, by which we are entitled to cry out to God and call Him our
Father. “Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done.” Thy will be done in
us and through us. A redemption such as this could have been conceived only by the infinite
wisdom of God and executed only through His almighty power. A new race comes into being
at Christmas, a race born of the strength of the incarnate Word of God. The child who is born to
us at Christmas is born under the law, but holds the scepter of omnipotence in His tiny hands.
The Gospel of the day describes the members of the family who surround the throne of the
newborn King. Grouped about His throne we find the Virgin Mother and her virginal spouse,
St. Joseph. There, too, is the aged Simeon, now filled with the Spirit of God and uttering his great
prophecy: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a
sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce.” Nearby lingers the chaste
widow, Anna, the prophetess, whose days and nights were spent in prayer and the service of God.
These are the first members of the new race raised to a new life by the Spirit of God. Theirs is the
new age, the age in which men will live by the Spirit of God, abounding in all good works (Collect).
The Incarnate Word of God became subject to the law in order to free us from the servitude of
the law and to establish His sovereignty over us. Though subject to the law, He is above the law
and confers upon our fallen nature a royal freedom that makes us the children of God.
With profound gratitude we cry out to Him, “The Lord hath reigned; He is clothed with
beauty; the Lord is clothed with strength and hath girded Himself ” (Introit). “Thou art beautiful
above the sons of men; grace is poured abroad in Thy lips” (Gradual). The glory of the
divine King, of the Word of God, the reflected splendor of the Father, shines in the eyes and
upon the lips of the child in the manger at Bethlehem. He is our brother and our Savior, who
for our sake was subject to the law of childhood and childhood’s weaknesses. Yet He is the
only-begotten of the Father.
“My heart hath uttered a good word, I speak my works to the King” (Gradual). The Church,
the bride of the divine King, presents herself to Him as a victim. In the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist, the almighty Word of God descends upon the altar (into the womb of His bride),
and in Holy Communion takes up His abode in the hearts (His crib) of her children, to fulfill
what was announced in the Epistle and Gospel. He becomes subject to the law, as our sacrifice
and sacrificial meal, “that He might redeem them who were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying: Abba, Father. Therefore now he is not a servant, but a son; and if a son, an heir
also through God” (Epistle).
“Learn of Me” to be resigned to the law of obedience, to the requirements of your vocation,
to the call of duty, to the will of God. “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Lk 14:118:14).
Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, do Thou direct our actions according to Thy good pleasure,
that we may deserve to abound in good works, in the name of Thy beloved Son, who reigneth
with Thee forever. Amen.
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