THE NATIVITY of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

The Third Joyful Mystery
THE BIRTH OF CHRIST
Our Father…

1. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. Hail Mary...

2. Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths. Hail Mary...

3. She placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Hail Mary...

4. There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. Hail Mary...

5. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Hail Mary...

6. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Hail Mary...

7. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests." Hail Mary...

8. Magi from the east came to Jerusalem. The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. Hail Mary...

9. They saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. Hail Mary...

10. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Hail Mary... Glory be to the Father…

The icon of the Nativity of Our Lord is from the wall of an Orthodox Cathedral in Texas (I think). In the centre we have the Mother of God lying on her bed and with her arms embracing the swaddled Christ-child. Above them the Uncreated Light of the invisible God shines down. His manger is like the tomb he will rise from on Easter Sunday morning. This is emphasized by the blackness of the cave behind. Creation, symbolized by the ox and donkey, looks on with eager longing for the liberation that is to come. At the upper left the angels look on in amazement and praise God while on the right on bears the good news to the shepherds. It is the outcasts and despised who are the first to hear of God's saving intervention and worship Him incarnate. On the left the Magi, the wise men, foreigners who are also excluded from Israel's worship bring their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Jew and gentile gather at the foot of Christ. On the bottom left Joseph is spoken to by an old man usually taken to be the devil who tempts him to doubt the Mother of God and, by extension, God Himself. But Joseph is a righteous man and overcomes. On the bottom right the women bath the newborn Christ, an affirmation of His humanity and an anticipation of both His baptism in the Jordan and His descent into the tomb so that our baptismal washing will bring salvation and union with the True Man, Christ.
At Greccio, not long before he died St. Francis had the Nativity scene reconstructed. He himself served the Mass as deacon. The Christ child Himself was seen to appear. From long contemplation of this mystery Francis gained a deep love for the humility of Christ. he could have chosen to be born in a better place, at a better time, in better conditions. 'Better' would be by our standards. It was in God's own time when He judged it appropriate that the Almighty Word and Image of the Father took flesh in the womb of the Virgin and was born. There were no crowds to hail Him, no bands, no welcoming parties. He chose obscurity and accepted the homage not of His own people who 'received Him not' but that of strangers and outcasts. He is born in the midst of sinners as He will be buried among them. The again we are all sinners; we have all fallen short of the glory of God. He embraces the matter of His creation to lift it not just out of the fall but into the very heart of the Trinity. His path is through littleness, rejection, suffering and death but does not end there. He will conquer and we will live forever. It is He who brings the true gift.