Third Sermon for Christmas Day: On the Place, Time, and Other Circumstances of the Nativity

“ The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.’ — Johni. 14.

In the nativity of Christ, my brethren, we have to consider two orders of things, two orders which are not only distinct from each other, but very much unlike. To the first belong the birth of a Child Who is very God; the preservation of His Mother’s virginity ; and the painlessness of her bringing forth. To the same: the new light from heaven shining amid the darkness; the Angel’s announcement of tidings of great joy ; the multitude of the heavenly host singing praises to their King; glory given to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will; the shepherds hastening to Bethlehem, and finding there the Word announced to them, and telling the news to others ; the awe and admiration of everyone that hears. These and all such-like happenings, my dearest brethren, are the work of divine power, not of human weakness. They are, as it were, plates and vessels of silver and gold, from which even the poor are allowed to eat and drink to-day at the table of the Lord, on account of the greatness of the solemnity. But we have no permission to take them away: it is not the golden dish and goblet that are given us, but the food and drink they contain. ‘‘ When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince,” says the Wise Man, “ consider diligently what is set before thy face.” But—to come to the things of the second order—I recognise as truly my own the time and place of this nativity, the tenderness of the Infant’s Body, the cries and tears of the Little One; also the poverty and the night-watches of the shepherds to whom the Saviour’s birth is first announced. These things, I say, are mine; they serve my interests ; they are the food set before me ; they are given me for my instruction and consolation. Christ was born in winter, and He was born at night. Are we to suppose, my brethren, that it was by mere chance and without any special design, that He to Whom belong day and night, summer and winter, came into this world in the most inclement of seasons and in the time of darkness? Other infants do not choose the time of their birth, because, hardly yet beginning to live, they have not the use of reason or the faculty of free choice, or the power of deliberation. But Christ, although He was not man before His incarnation, nevertheless “ was in the beginning with God ” and “ was God,” possessing the same wisdom and power as now, as being always the Wisdom and the Power of God. Consequently, when the Son of God was about to be born into this world, it was His privilege to choose whatever season He pleased. And the choice He made was of the most disagreeable, especially for a little Child, the Son of a poor Mother, who had scarcely the swaddling clothes in which to wrap Him, and no cradle wherein to lay Him but the manger. Nowhere can I find any mention of furs for His-use, although the necessity was undoubtedly great. The first Adam covered himself with garments of skins ; the second Adam is wrapped in poor swaddling clothes. Such things, my brethren, are not in accordance with he wisdom of the world. Therefore either Jesus Christ is deceived or the world is in error. But it is impossible that He Who is the Wisdom of God should be liable to deception. Justly then is the prudence of the flesh—which is death—called “an enemy to God,” and the wisdom of the world “ foolishness.” For consider. Christ, Whose judgment is infallible, has chosen for Himself what is most disagreeable to nature. This must, consequently, be better, more expedient, more desirable than what pleases the flesh. And should any one teach or recommend to you a different doctrine, avoid him as a seducer.

The Saviour also selected the night as the time of His birth. Where now are those who so shamelessly desire to make a parade of themselves ? Christ chooses what He judges to be most salutary: you select what He repudiates. Is your wisdom superior to his? Is your judgment more true than His? Is your decision safer than His? Christ holds His peace, He does not extol Himself. He does not magnify or preach Himself ; and behold an angel announces Him, whilst a multitude of the heavenly host celebrates His advent. Do thou, therefore, my brother, if thou wouldst follow Christ, conceal the treasure which thou hast found. Love to be unknown.* Let another’s mouth praise thee, but thine own never. Furthermore, Christ was born in a stable and laid in a manger. But is it not He Who says, “ Mine is the earth and the fulness thereof’? Wherefore, then, does He choose a stable? Evidently in order to condemn the glory of this world, to reprobate the vanity of men. As yet His tongue is silent, but all else that belongs to Him cries aloud, preaches, evangelises. Even the limbs of His infant Body have the power of utterance. In everything does He censure, oppose, and refute the judgment of the world. For who amongst men, if given the choice, would not rather select a strong body and fully developed faculties than the tenderness and helplessness of childhood ? O Wisdom, “ drawn out of secret places,” as holy Job says! O Wisdom of God truly incarnated and veiled under the flesh ! For intruth, my brethren, this Child is the Little One promised of old through Isaias, Who should “ know to refuse the evil and to choose the good.” Bodily comfort must therefore be evil, and affliction of the flesh must be good, since this wise Little One, this infant Word chooses the latter and rejects the former. For “ the Word was made flesh,” weak flesh, infant flesh, tender flesh, feeble flesh, flesh incapable of any work, of any labour. And truly, my brethren, “the Word was made flesh and dwelt (in the flesh) among us.” Whilst He “ was in the beginning with God”’ He dwelt in “ light inaccessible,” and there was none able to endure His brightness, “ for who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counsellor?” ‘“ The sensual man perceived not these things that are of the Spirit of God.” But now even “the sensual man” may perceive, because the Word is made flesh. If he can comprehend nothing but what concerns the flesh, behold the Word is now flesh : let him hear that Word even in the flesh. O man, the Wisdom of God is presented to thee in the flesh. That Wisdom which was formerly concealed, behold It is now “ drawn out of (Its) secret places,” and manifests Itself even to thy bodily senses. It calls out to thee, as I may say, ina manner intelligible even to the carnal-minded, “ Shun I. 2c pleasure, because death sits close to the entrance of delight. Do penance, because by penance the kingdom of heaven is brought near.” This, my brethren, this is what the stable preaches to us, this is what the manger clearly expresses, what those infantine members unmistakably announce, what those tears and cries proclaim aloud. Christ weeps, but not as other children are wont to weep, I mean not for the same reason. For it is sensible suffering that causes the tears in others, whereas the tears of Christ flow from an affection of compassion. Other infants weep because of their own misery, Christ weeps over ours. They lament the heavy burden which weighs upon all the children of Adam, He bewails the sins which defile the children of Adam. And for those for whom He now pours out His tears, He will hereafter shed His Blood. Oh, the flinty hardness of this heart of mine! Would to God that it also, like the Word, was made flesh! Thou, O Lord, hast even promised this by Thy Prophet Ezechiel, saying, “I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.”

Brethren, the tears of Christ overwhelm me with shame and fear and sorrow. I was playing out of doors in the street, whilst sentence of death was being passed upon me in the privacy of the royal council-chamber. But the King’s only-begotten Son heard of it. And what did He do? He went forth from the palace, put off His diadem, covered Himself with sackcloth, strewed ashes on His head, bared His feet, and wept and lamented because His poor slave was condemned to death. I meet Him unexpectedly in this sad condition. I am astonished at the woeful change in Him and inquire the cause. He tells me the whole story. What am I to do now? Shall I continue to play and make a mockery of His tears? Surely I have neither sense nor reason if I do not rather follow Him and unite my tears with His. This is the cause of my shame. Shall I tell you also the source of my sorrow and my fear? It is the fact that I estimate the magnitude of my danger from a consideration of the remedy. I had no idea how desperate was my condition. I believed myself to be in good health. And behold, the Son of the Virgin, the Son of the Most High, is sent for, and ordered to be slain, so that my wounds may be healed by the balsam of His most precious Blood! Acknowledge, O man, how serious were thy wounds, since to heal them it was necessary that Christ should be wounded. Had thy wounds not been unto death, yea, unto everlasting death, the Son of God would never have died for their remedy. It were shame for us, then, dearest brethren, to neglect or dissemble those wounds of ours for which we behold so august a Majesty manifesting so much compassion. The Son of God compassionates our misery and weeps over us, and shall we who suffer the misery, only laugh at it? Thus the consideration of the preciousness of the remedy fills my soul with © fear and sorrow.

Nevertheless, this very fact of the remedy being so precious shall also become to me a source of consolation, if I am faithful in carrying out the Doctor’s prescriptions. For if, on the one hand, the use of such costly medicine makes known to me the seriousness of my malady, on the other hand, it gives me grounds for thinking that I am not incurable. Surely so wise a Physician, nay, a Physician Who is Wisdom Itself, would not apply in vain, would not waste a remedy of infinite worth. But it is manifest that it would bewasted not only if a cure could be easily obtained without it, but also, and much more, if even with its use a cure were impossible. Therefore, the hope I have conceived animates me to the practice of penance and powerfully inflames my desire to be cured. And I derive an increase of comfort from the angelic visitation and allocution vouchsafed to the watching shepherds. “ Woeto you that are rich, for you have your consolation’ from the things of earth, and are therefore unworthy of the consolations of heaven! How many noble, according to the flesh, how many mighty, how many of the wise of this world were resting on their soft beds at that hour, and not one of them was deemed worthy to witness the new light, or to hear the glad tidings of great joy, or to listen to the angels as they sang in the air, “ Glory to God in the highest.” From this we should learn that they who “ are not in the labour of men,” as the Psalmist says, do not deserve to be visited by angels. We should learn also how pleasing to the inhabitants of heaven is the labour of him whose intention is pure and spiritual, since they honour with their speech, and with speech so delightful, even such as toil for the support of their bodies, and under the compulsion of corporal necessity. For in this way they show their respect for that law imposed on the human race by God, when He said to Adam, ‘‘ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”

I entreat you, dearest brethren, to consider more attentively how much God has done for your instruction and salvation. Otherwise His words may be found unfruitful in you, His words so “living and efficacious,” so “faithful and worthy of all acceptation,” and expressed more by the labour of action than by the breath of the mouth. Do you suppose, my brethren, that it would be only a small disappointment to me did I know that these words which I am now addressing to you were destined to die in your hearts without producing any fruit? And whoam Ior what are my words? If, then, a man of such little consequence, yea, of no consequence at all, grieves to behold the “labour of his lips,” insignificant though it be, expended to no purpose, with how much greater reason shall the anger of the Lord of Majesty be enkindled against us, if by our negligence or hardness of heart, we bring to naught the mighty works He has accomplished for our salvation ? May He Who, in order to save us, consented to assume the servile form, may He deign to guard His poor servants from so dreadful a misfortune, for He is the Only-Begotten of the Father and is over all things God blessed for ever. Amen.