Reflection: OUR BLESSED MOTHER
Go to meet your Blessed Mother. Lead her to the manger you have prepared in your heart and invite her to lay the Infant Jesus there. Today, find some quiet time to be alone with Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach me always to love your Blessed Mother. Come, Lord Jesus, Come; my heart belongs to You!
Scripture: The Nativity LUKE 2
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.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Poem: Christina Rosetti – “Christmas Eve”
Christmas hath a darkness
Brighter than the blazing noon,
Christmas hath a chillness
Warmer than the heat of June,
Christmas hath a beauty
Lovelier than the world can show:
For Christmas bringeth Jesus,
Brought for us so low.
Earth, strike up your music,
Birds that sing and bells that ring;
Heaven hath answering music
For all Angels soon to sing:
Earth, put on your whitest
Bridal robe of spotless snow:
For Christmas bringeth Jesus,
Brought for us so low.
__________
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The featured image is “Adoration of the Shepherds” (between 1483 and 1485), by Domenico Ghirlandaio, and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Thank you, Imaginative Conservative. First, for your post; I found it interesting and moving. Second, I want to be part of your movement. I recently created a webpage for my weekly journal and story posts. Merry Christmas and God bless.