renew your wonders: 1 January 2024 - tell us o shepherds, what have you seen?

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,

and the infant lying in the manger.

The shepherds were excited because they had been told by an angel the good news that a child who was to be savior, Messiah, and Lord was born. This happened "today" and was "for you", as the angel said. They were therefore ready to regard the infant lying in the manager as a supernatural confirmation of the message of the angel. They had seen the glory of God in the highest. Now they were those of good will who experienced the promise of peace on earth.

When they saw this,

they made known the message

that had been told them about this child.

It was fitting that the first people to welcome the new Messiah after the Holy Family were shepherds. The child was the one who would one day call himself the "Good Shepherd" (see John 10:11), who would fulfill the prophecy of Micah, who wrote, "He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth" (see Micah 5:4). It was fitting for a shepherd to be welcomed by shepherds and for them to be his first heralds.

All who heard it were amazed

by what had been told them by the shepherds.

No doubt shepherds did not make universally persuasive messengers. But God did not deign to reveal himself to the rich or the mighty, but rather delighted to lift up the lowly. He was concerned, not with status, but with the heart. By the very ordinariness they did have a kind of persuasive power that the propagandists of empire and religion couldn't match. They were too preoccupied with the daily grind to spend time on elaborate subterfuge. They stood to gain little from any falsehood they could contrive. And they were in that way a prototype of many of the missionaries that have gone out throughout the ages to repeat their message. The peace of Roman was partially real, but more than partially announced as propaganda in order to reinforce human interests. The Gospel, by contrast, was announced, not for material gain, but because of the peace that it both promised and delivered.

And Mary kept all these things,

reflecting on them in her heart.

Today we celebrate the mother of the child who was both Son of God and son of man. Her heart was filled with a dynamic fidelity of faith that allowed her to remain open to God as he gradually and increasingly revealed what her child was to become. She didn't, most likely, know the whole story in advance. She did would have known very well the Scriptures of her people. Raised in the temple, she would have been taught to be faithful in her life of prayer. She allowed the actions of God in her world to reveal the ways in which her son would become the fulfillment of the prophecies she knew and the desires she felt in her deepest times of prayer. He was not a savior who anyone would have invented. His career was not such that it could be predicted in advance. The comfort of predictability was not to be among the blessings the mother received from her child. But, by continuing to live from the posture of the fiat that she spoke to Gabriel, she opened her heart to treasures that were much greater than predictability.

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

Mary remained open to all that the Lord wanted to do in and through her as the mother of God. And there is still more that he desires to do through her for our sake. For we become brothers and sisters of Jesus in virtue of our baptism. We too hear him say, "Behold your mother" (see John 19:27). She can teach us to reflect on and treasure Jesus in our hearts so that we too can receive the blessings that the angel promised, that the shepherds tasted, and that Mary herself experienced preeminently. She knew how to cling to the promises of her son even in the dark hour of the cross. This is one thing that she can teach us that we can't do without. By learning from her we will come to experience, more and more, the birth of her son in our hearts. The Spirit that overshadowed her will overshadow us as well.

God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

crying out, “Abba, Father!”

So you are no longer a slave but a son,

and if a son then also an heir, through God.