NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 51, 23 December 1925, Page 34

NOTES

gflM&Hnt Christmas - is 'Mary and Joseph were: refused lodging in * v the' ? inns. ; They sought .shelter: in a stable. |STsiere/ in a monger from which an <ox < and an | s %ss had fed shortly before, Jesus ?wasKborn. ', i^The Prince of'Peace had no- cradle of gold* pHisvmottier : had v ho silken i swaddling -'} in which to wrap him.- He was born in poverty to teach millions in - later 'age's that ;iJ wealtH is a poor thing ; and that ; poverty ;m'ay -be the richest thing on earth: We- make a ft "«rib every year- in order to commemorate the }Bifth- of Jesus Christ; hut how few. of us make of it a message of comfort and courage ! , :'lri'-'-'Catholic lands children are brought to - the Crib; and it is one of the most interesting "■ things in Rome during Christmas week to hear the' little ones recite their artless ad*&f&ke3 to the Divine Child, in the church of ? itl £x* Goeli. Christmas is the "festival ; of the ■• *¥&itfyy: from the manger, He says£ ' 'Suffer little- children to 7 come unto vie', and -forbid themnot, for "of such is the Kingdom • 4SF -From the- manger, "too, He Harris us all that unless we* become like those little'ones we shall not be His friends herev -after. ■ iTherefore, at Yuletide, :it is right •to \ cultivate the old simplicities;- to cherish the" " r spirit of -hilarity, and -loving-kindness, and' -benevolence towards all men it -is;right to rejoice and be glad, and to give freely, just * as children will give before they have learned" fto set their 'hearts on earthly treasures. The i|KS|o* and romance : of : Christmas, the holly f-'and ivy hung in the hall, the cheery ex--4 change ofr good, wishes which " are the sport-' f'taneous 1 expression of good will, are all in ; : keeping with the childlike spirit which the 3 Crib s teaches-us/ ''" *'": v -- - : " '•'"■"■* ' ::: ~-' S^^n : -'-t r f. -,. : S' , "Tn His mother's womb, almost at the mo-, , meht He was born, Jesus was rejected by ■'. men. ?v His Own received Him riot He name 'jtbsave them; but they had no room for H in. "Thus began that series of rejections, 5 which "lasted all -His life, and is perpetuated every« !:.-■■ day in the lives of ■ the men arid women who., : in every » clime succeeded.those .who refused J to i receive Him .; on ' that i Christmas Eve. Ifc; lJ w a pitiful arid a moving thing' to. conterii % , plate how Mary arid Joseph had to turn their backs on the town, face the cold/Hight in the anxiety that was then on them, and at !? n£ 1) "find shelter .in/a cave which was warm somewhat by the breath of an ox and an a->&. .Even the 'animals were kinder : than ;;men! «..,«,--», -■-/ -,r"-i,x.--'. .-•-£ -. t'.),»> ; i> .... _ It is well to think on "the pity of it when \\p '"Visit the Crib in our narish church. And it Vts_,betier to think of how often iWe nave re% §j|c|e©Hiiir and refused Him shelter'in the "hostel of our hearts. Surely, there have "times when we felt angry with the hard-.-hearted:-people who .drove Him away that : ■ ;night.; But we oustfit not to forget to feel ; angry with .ourselves who have, likewW .driven • Him: away as real and as cruel vS s jthey. did. ■.. Pleasure. J'ooiai engagements-; 7 .. money-making j have filled ~ our hearts nvil -kept Him out. fie lias knocked ttnit "

in vain. for Him.v He - ; had- to turn : away^iust^as-Mary;»nd~ Jo wph v did siv ; the night &m& birth. ; The Crib :■':"ought to teach us A Shat? : .it':ls a-mistake-to set l ihaoh-s<ore'oii^6HiTdrt ; 6r the "thought ;of "ouglit t 6 how terrible" it.ls^h'^'W^ftllo^^^ess^Snd^amuse" iherii? tomakOus'rejeet Him; T *' ' " The Shepherds ';~;" ; ; ' -' "There were shepherds in the country, dwelling out in the fields, and keeping the : night watches over their flocks. And, : lo f '. an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them; and ''.they: were sorely afraid. And the angel said ; to .them: ''Fear not, for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which "shall be to all the : people, - for -there .is Born to you " : to-day; in •■ the city of David a ."Saviour who is 'Christ the Lord.'; . ..: And suddenly there was with , the ' angel a multitude; of the heavenly host praising God, and saying: I Glory to God in the highest " ' - . And on earth'peace toymen of- good will" " L - The first revelation of the Nativity,,. was made to the shepherds, not to kings or states- ' men or capitalists: He was born in -poverty and humility, and 'He wished that His : first ■ adorers should be poor and humble. Already He was-preaching that divine lesson:. ? Learn of Me because I am meelc and humble ■"'-"'"/' of heart! ;.; ; - V: - ;'- ' ; : T =■■■•'■'.. Surely that was an ; 'effective ; reprobation of-the world's standard of '' values! He was teaching ■ all of us who Were to be born •; in ' later'ages how to value things. But nothing in its setting can take from the ; dignity - and " majesty of that birth. •" He was the; King. The angels came down' from Heaven to adore .:; Him; The air was full of their songs of joy. Poor in .', outward -■ seeming, "but. noble in :•• the I true : sense of the; word,-' the shepherds were .'His courtiers. They ; were simple people ;; " . they were free from; guile and double-dealing; they received the message 'of, the angel gladly: like children they came and knelt before the Child .who; was God. ; Like children we ' too mustgo*.to s find Hjm. ; " . In the field and with their ' flocks abiding, . , They lay on the dewy ground; •: And glimmering under the starlight v ....--..-;.-; . s The sheep lay white; around. ~ - When the ' Light of the ; Lord streamed o'er them, - ~- " ' And, lo! { from" thedieayens, above, --, /, I -v jiAn; angel ?leaned>fii)m -the -glory > ~ x And.sang hisisong of. love: ~ ■■.., .;•-.„ ".To you in- the "city" of David, A Saviour is born to-day 1" 'And sudden a host of the heavenly ones Plashed forthi to join the lay . _ • !••£: ■) 0 never hath sweeter'message r'-V-ir- : ' s Mz&H Thrilled home, to '.the souls of men. And i the, heavens. themselves had;; never heard ; A gladder choir till-then.

"The figures of the shepherds," say a Father Faber, ""have grown to look so natural to us? lin our thought-pictures of Bethlehem that it almost seems . now jas : if they- were indispens-; able from" it and inseparable • from the mys- , . tery. What '-'beautiful', congruity .there: is between thepart they play and their occupation ! The very contrasts are congruities. '- Heaven opens:-and reveals itself ..to -earth, making itself but one' side of: theraehojr to sing the office. of the Nativity," while-earth is to be the Jothier ; and earth's ; answer to the open heavens is the pastoral gentleness of those simple-minded watchmen. She sets her 'shepherds; to match the heavenly singers, and counts their > simplicity her most harmonious tresponse to angelical intelligence. Truly. earth was wise in this her deed, and teaches her sons philosophy. It was congruous top that simplicity should be % the first worship that simplicity sent into the stable of Beth- •; lehem. For what is the grace of simplicity but a permanent childhood ; of the soul, fixed there by a special operation of the Holy : Ghost, and therefor© -a fitting' worship forv the Holy Child _ Himself. Their infant-like heavenly-mindedness suited His infantile con-i; dition, as well as it suited the purity of the heavenly hosts that were singing in the upper air. Beautiful figures on whom: God's light rested for a moment and ; tHfen (all was dark again ! They were not 'mere shapes ) light, v golden imaginings, ideal forms,: that .filled - in the Divine Artist's picture. ; vThey were? living; souls, tender yet not faultless men, with inequalities in; the monotony. of their, human lot that often lowered them: in temper and in repining to the level of; those around them." . . . / "J v. Such were the shepherds; such, too, were the men whom He later called to leave their; : nets beside, the lake and follow Him. Note that all of them—both shepherds and. apostles —came quickly.' There was no- bargaining^ ;. no excuse,'; no reluctance to leave anything| or anybody. They came at His word, as children come at their father's. And, when all was over, they went . away glorifying God. Like children let us also approach- Christmas,* and from it let us face the new year glorifying God. - ~-.'•"-. ........ ~, ~ . : :••'■'.";;'-.',;.. - : .- % - ; . - ■-' *