In today's collect, we pray: "Come quickly, we pray, Lord Jesus, and do not delay, that those who trust in your compassion may find solace and relief in your coming." In the first reading, 2 Samuel 7: 1-5a, 8b-12, 14a, 16, the Lord says to us through the prophet Nathan: "I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old, since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from your enemies."
God is a God who saves, who destroys evil. Wicked people shall perish, shall be cast down from their thrones. In Mary's response to her cousin Elizabeth's greeting, Mary reminds us in her Magnificat that "[God] has mercy on those who fear [reverence] him in every generation. [God] has shown the strength of his arm, [God] has scattered the proud in their conceit. [God] has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. God has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever."
As we ponder the baby Jesus in the crib, let us remember that this Infant is the Son of God, through whom the strength of God's arm will be shown, the proud will be scattered in their conceit, the mighty shall be cast down from their thrones, and the lowly lifted up! It is through this Mighty Infant, Son of the Most High God, that the hungry will be filled with good things and the rich will be sent away empty. We celebrate this reality in every Catholic Mass, at Christmas time and every time, when, at Mass, we memorialize the Paschal Mystery--Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection--and hear Jesus say to us, as he said to the disciples in the Last Supper: Take and eat; this is my Body given up for you. Take and drink; this is my Blood poured out for you."
May we have the humility and the faith to believe in Jesus' words and promises of mercy!
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