Merry Christmas Eve!
Erik Haan
Medjugorje Book Reviews
December 24
The Vigil of Christmas
On this vigil of Christmas, the Blessed Mother calls us to glorify Jesus and his Nativity:
Dear children, for Christmas my invitation is that together we glorify Jesus. I present him to you in a special way on that day and my invitation to you is that we glorify Jesus and his nativity. Dear children, on that day pray still more and think more about Jesus (WM 12-12-85).
And on this vigil in 1990:
Dear children, tonight your Mother invites you to give her all your problems. My dear children, Rejoice! (VPGM 12-24-90).
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The following is Matthew's passage on the birth of Christ:
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, so of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and the shall name him Emmanuel," which mean, "God is with us." When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her. She bore a son, and he named him Jesus (Mt 1:18-25).
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Reflection: Tonight we celebrate the greatest event of all time - the birth of the Messiah - the divine God taking on human flesh. For ages the Jewish people had waited for him, and when the miracle finally occurred, the first to hear of it were not the nobility or Temple hierarchy, but simple shepherds. The birth was in a stable, not a palace. Even at the beginning, the Messiah came first to the humble, the ordinary, the poor. And he still comes to them, to all with hearts humble enough to receive him.
Application: Greet the Christ child with prayer and love this evening. Give your heart as your gift.
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