AND IN that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." [Lk 2:8-12]
 
Artist: Victor Luciano Rebuffo
(1903 - 1983)
Buenos Aires, Argentina

CHRISTMAS

"VESSEL OF MERCY" (Baptism of the Lord Year A)
The true sign of great wealth is extravagant giving. Some persons make grand philanthropic bequests while others happily share their simple home and table.

"HALLOWED BE THY NAME" (Baptism of the Lord Year B)
When we pray, we worship God. To glorify God's name is to worship him. To worship God's name is to glorify him in prayer.

"PRAYER AND WATER" (Baptism of the Lord Year C)
The contrast cannot be ignored. Adam, the created son of God, is born of dust. His consciousness awakens when God breathes into his nostrils the breath of life.

"NIGHT OF KILLING FROST" (Epiphany Year A)
A votive manger scene pours out a stream of devotional meanings like a pitcher does water. Miniature replicas of the Holy Family's Bethlehem shelter illuminate sacred stories, religious symbols and--principles of architecture.

"SEARCH FOR A PERSON" (Epiphany Year B)
The incarnation of Jesus Christ and his epiphany to the Gentiles are but two of a myriad of interrelated events, imperceptible or apparent, that bear the imprint of personhood and relationship.

"THOU LITTLE TINY CHILD" (Epiphany Year C)
King Herod ruled greater Palestine at the time of Jesus' birth. He was a brilliant man who eventually descended into madness, a final decay not uncommon to old and desperate rulers.

"TRUE FAMILY" (Holy Family Year A)
A newspaper advice columnist, when asked by a reader to define a functional family, replied: "A functional family is one that 'works.' People respect one another's right to be different..."

"WORTHY OF HUMANITY" (Holy Family Year B)
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana is renown for its lush, majestic oak trees, many of which are over 200 years old and legendary survivors of ferocious hurricanes.

"HOLY MARRIAGE, HOLY FAMILY" (Holy Family Year C)
Infallible truth is made known to the world by means of divine revelation, the self-disclosure of the eternal, absolute and unchanging God who has graciously lifted the veil (Lat. revelare) of natural man's ignorance of supernatural realities.

"THE POINT" (Mary Mother of God Year A)
A freshman student stood in front of the trophy cases in the foyer of his high school. He looked intently at basketball team pictures from the past 40 years.

"MYSTERY AND IMAGE" (Mary Mother of God Year B)
An unnamed centurion pierced Jesus Christ on the cross. If asked, he would vehemently object to being called the midwife of the Church.

"CHIAROSCURO" (Mary Mother of God Year C)
Below the rotunda of the Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem is a crypt chapel containing a remarkable piece of art--a life-size ivory and cherry wood sculpture of the Blessed Virgin in repose.

"MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD" (Mass at Midnight Year A)
With respect to a cave, we think it as something empty, an anomaly or flaw in the landscape. Yet on the night our Saviour was born, a cave overflowed with the splendor of God.

"ON THAT DAY" (Mass at Midnight Year B)
The phrase on that day is celebrated in Sacred Scripture, for it prophesies God's decisive intervention in the corrupt affairs of man. On that day every family on earth shall embrace the Father of heaven as its head.

"THY WILL BE DONE" (Mass at Midnight Year C)
Zechariah the priest and his wife Elizabeth were much older than Elizabeth's cousin Mary. Their world was shrinking, and they had long since abandoned many hopes and dreams which animated them in earlier years. Like the Jewish men and women of their day, Elizabeth and Zechariah placed a premium on procreation.

"BACK TO THE BOAT" (Back to the Boat)
Jesus walked across the Sea of Galilee as if he were on dry land. This event, magnified by the disciples exhaustion and panic, engraved itself indelibly in the mind of the early Christians long before the four gospels were written.

"HEAVEN TO EARTH, SEA TO RIVER" (Heaven to Earth, Sea to River)
After receiving reports of a ghost ship, the Australian navy boarded a 65-foot vessel drifting aimlessly in the Indian Ocean about 185 miles west of the fishing port of Broome.