9781644135945

The Christmas Cycle
meet during this day, in the men and women with whom I live and work. Unfortunately, I do
not recognize Him; nevertheless, He does live in my fellow man as the head lives in the body
and the vine lives in its branches.
Poor, blind creatures that we are, we observe only what is superficial; we see only flesh
and blood, but miss the God who lives within. “As long as you did it to one of these, My least
brethren, you did it to Me. . . . As long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do
it to Me” (Mt 25:40, 45). How forgetful we are! If we had only the faith and spiritual vision of
the early Christians. Their whole life was dominated by this thought: “If you see your brother,
you see the Lord.” If we could make this idea a part of our life, we should no longer be harsh,
cold, and unsympathetic with our fellow men, but kind, gentle, and tolerant.
The Virgin who conceived the Son of God from that moment was completely dominated
by the Spirit of God. She hastens at once to the mountain country to assist Elizabeth, her
cousin, and to exercise herself in love and charity. The first fruit of Mary’s charity and love is
the sanctification of John the Baptist in his mother’s womb.
“Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is nigh.” He is nigh in our fellow men, who
are members of Christ. Since He lives in us as the head lives in its members, He sees that His
goodness and mildness becomes manifest in us also. The holy season of Advent demands of
us a Christian life that is unselfish, charitable, and all-embracing, since Christ wishes to live in
us and make His life manifest in us. How little we understand the nature of Christianity and
the art of living with Christ in His Church! This condition is undoubtedly the result of our
individualism, our narrowness and selfishness.
The liturgy of the third Sunday of Advent reminds us continually, “Let your modesty be
known to all men. The Lord is nigh,” in our fellow men and in us. We must, in a sense, become
as the Virgin of Nazareth, and make the mildness and goodness of Christ shine forth in our life.
Today’s Mass furnishes us with a powerful means of grace. We feel our need for redemption,
our lack of virtue, and our sloth. We know how sadly we fail to realize in our lives the unlimited
goodness of Christ, who lives in us. We cry out to Christ and ask Him to free us from our
narrowness, from our coldness, and from our individualism. We take to heart the words of the
Communion: “Say to the faint-hearted: Take courage and fear not; behold our God will come
and will save us.”
Prayer
Thou, O Lord, that sittest upon the cherubim, stir up Thy might and come. Give ear, O Thou
that rulest Israel; that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Stir up Thy might, O Lord, and come to save
us. Convert us, O God, and show us Thy face, and we shall be saved. (Gradual; Ps 79:2–4.)
Ember Wednesday
The stational church for Ember Wednesday in Advent is the church of St. Mary Major in Rome.
The liturgy invites us to visit the home of the Virgin of Nazareth and presents us the scene of
the Annunciation. Reverently beholding the holy Virgin, we contemplate the great mystery of
the Incarnation.
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