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The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
From an earthly perspective the shepherds happened to be close by to an ordinary birth in most difficult circumstances. Had they been modern cynics they might well have doubted the vision of the angel and found nothing worthy of amazement in the infant lying in the manger. But the shepherds instead chose to believe the angel who elevated their perspective to a heavenly one.
Something which would not have otherwise been extraordinary became so when the angel declared it would be a sign for the shepherds: "an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger" (see Luke 2:12). What the shepherds actually found when they investigated the words of the angel was something more than it appeared to be on the surface. The sign was proof that, "today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord" (see Luke 2:11).
The shepherds saw the sign and believed the message. It could no longer be imagined that they were merely accidentally nearby to witness the birth of a child to some unfortunate travelers. Quite the contrary, they were chosen by the angel, chosen to be witnesses, elected to be heralds of the fact that the Messiah had been born that day. This story involved none of the great men one might have guessed would have been included. It did not take place in the chambers of palaces as one might have assumed. The one who was Messiah and Lord had eschewed the halls of the great for the most humble of accomodations. He was born to parents who were not of much worth in the eyes of the world. Those chosen to be his witnesses were humble shepherds and foreigners.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
The shepherds simplicity and humility helped make them able to receive the message. They did not demand it conform to some preconceived notions of royal births in grand palaces. They discovered, accepted, and marveled at the hidden way that the child was given to the world, a way that allowed they themselves to become privileged witnesses. They were specially chosen to share the amazement they themselves received with others. And indeed it was no accident that he who was to be the Good Shepherd wanted to have his own birth made known by shepherds. They may recalled that even David himself was called was keeping the flock to be anointed king. Was it not fitting that this new shepherd and king would also come from among the flocks?
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Mary was able to welcome those who came to be witnesses to the birth of her child. Her heart was large enough to invite both shepherds and Magi to share the joy of the birth of her child. To do so they had to in some measure embrace her own poverty and humility, and that of the child. They had to enter into the great reversal where, as Mary said to Elizabeth, God cast down the mighty and lifted up the lowly. It was precisely those on the peripheries and on the margins of society who were the most able and eager to embrace this mystery. It wasn't so much that the mighty were unwelcome as that they self-selected out of such scene. They probably would have felt it unfitting, that it should have been otherwise. The pretext for this prejudice would have been to more greatly honor God, but it was rather a God in their own image who could only wield power by aping earthly models of power.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.
The shepherds returned with great joy because they were now involved in this divine conspiracy. They had been specially chosen by the angel. They were privileged to be witnesses to the birth of the Messiah. It was not just that they learned about a great event. They were implicated in it. The story of this child now became in some measure their own story as well.
Most of us are not the great ones of our own society. We may not be materially poor, but the proclamations of royal births are usually done without sending us messengers to give special notice. In this we have something in common with the shepherds and the Magi. We too are unlikely candidates who have in fact been specially chosen by God to bear witness to all we have seen and heard. To do so we too must follow the angel's summons to enter the presence of Mary, Joseph, and the child. It is Mary who can help us see the truth of the sign through the lens of her own capacious heart. She can teach us to recognize God at work in this small and hidden thing that is nevertheless greater and more amazing than the entire universe.
Mary was chosen to be the mother of our savior, mother of the Messiah and Lord. She was graced to be the one through whom God himself would enter his own story in order to bring the promise of salvation to all mankind. Was she a vessel to humble or limited for this task? Were the witnesses chosen to testify to it underqualified? We might have been inclined to say so had we not been familiar in advance with the results. May Mary through whom the Son of God was born to ransom us continue to guide us to see all things through the eyes of faith. With her help we can recognize the hidden action of God in the world, and even in ourselves.
As proof that you are sons,
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying out, “Abba, Father!”
The Messiah became a shepherd among shepherds and thereby chose and elevated them as witnesses. But this was a part of a larger plan where he became a son of man through Mary in order that the daughters and sons of the human race might be elevated to become sons and daughters of God. It was there at such a depth of humility that God's grace was most fully manifest, and his gifts outpoured. It is in this humility that we ourselves can seek his embrace and find ourselves lifted from our lowliness and made a part of a larger story. It is a story we never would have guessed or imagined, but it is for that reason better and more believable than any fantasy or myth we could have created.
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!
The face of the Lord shone upon Mary and the shepherds, though to the world his presence was still veiled under a humble sign. Isn't this the very same thing we experience in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? Jesus wants this blessing to be shared with all the world, and desires to make us, like the shepherds, his witnesses, part of a new and larger story than we were before this encounter. We too can bless our world by working and praying that the face of Christ which shines on us may shine on all the world.
So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites,
and I will bless them.
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