Lord at Thy Birth: A Perfect Perception of Peace

Our Lord Jesus Christ was born Lord at His Holy Birth. His humble birth and birthplace signified the holiness of heart and the utmost purity of life. His magnificent Birth was in tumultuous and travailing times and yet His Holy Birth was free from emotional upheaval. Those witnessing His Holy Birth and those who came to worship our Lord were neither influenced nor intoxicated by their cultural climate, diversity, or by earthly desires or interests.

Obscurity of His birthplace was the theme of the Nativity for the One born as Lord and the awaited Messiah. Our Lord Jesus Christ was born into serene shelter. There were no strumming harps of gold or resounding timbrels to announce His Holy Birth. Our beloved Lord was the awaited upon and prophesied Messiah. Yet He was not born into a palace, there was no joyous announcement in the Temple courtyard of His Holy Birth, actually there was not even a place at a nondescript inn upon arrival to Bethlehem for His shelter and birth.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was born into a Jewish family, descendents of the house of David, and not within or among the governing political party of the Romans. His Holy birthing garment was not purple nor was He transported in a chariot for all to see and pay homage to. Rather our Lord Jesus Christ wore swaddling strips of cloth and was born in the shelter near a donkey and ox. Our Lord would share shelter in a cave utilized for safe keeping of animals and His Holy head would first touch their feeding manager as His place of rest following birth.
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God's Continuing Love Enfleshed

The Old Testament records that mankind had fallen, and been driven out of paradise; but God in His continuing love, desired to restore man to his original state. Ezekiel the prophet and priest prophesied this great, everlasting, restorative love of God for his people in spite of their rebellion for which they had deserved to be exiled, and their temple to be destroyed. Jerusalem, at the time, "her nativity was from the land of Canaan and her father was an Amorite and her mother a Hittite" (Ezekiel 16:3) had been entirely unfaithful to God. That was the status of Gods relationship with Jerusalem and, symbolically, all of Israel.

"When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 16:8).

With these prophetic words, God reinstates His inexhaustible love despite Israels immoral and idolatrous life; and in so doing, He describes an Old Covenant relationship to the one Jerusalem He was to be forever faithful unto.
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The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Love of Honor

Whenever one tries to approach the Blessed Virgin Mary to understand the secrets behind her life, one's mind gets boggled and baffled by them. For, while a lot of women and leaders of women's movements fight to obtain rights and honor, this simple poor girl appeared on the scene of events to become not only higher than those on earth but also those in heaven. As St. Isaac the Syrian said, "whoever runs after honor, it runs away from him and whoever runs away from honor willfully honor chases him and lead people to him." That is why God had honored this girl and chosen her to become His Mother.

The Blessed Virgin Mary ran away from all fame and honor. Although she had lots of stories, news and words she had known about and of her dear Son our Lord Jesus Christ that any human being yearns to listen to, yet she chose to keep all these things to herself pondering them in her heart. Had she uttered a word, all humanity would have surrounded her to record those things she knew about the Master Jesus Christ. However, she escaped all this glory and chose the life of silence and quietude.
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The Need for the Incarnation

The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ has become a turning point in the history of mankind; making it feasible to classify incidents into pre and post Nativity. It has also marked the birth of humanity; for in the Nativity was the Incarnation, and in the Incarnation was Salvation and through Salvation we received adoption becoming heirs to the Kingdom.
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Nathanael: Under the Fig Tree

The Lord's first disciples were St. John the Baptist's previous followers. These were St. Andrew, St. Peter, St. Phillip, and St. Nathanael who was also known as Bartholomew.

First it should be noted that Phillip brought Nathanael to the Lord Jesus Christ. In seeking Nathanael, Phillip asserted to him who the Lord was by saying, "We have found Him..." Here we see a friend bringing his friend to the Lord.

Nathanael's attitude and personality are starkly unveiled in the Holy Gospel of St. John. Nathanael was later to become one of the Lord's disciples. However, prior to that, Nathaneal was known for his hesitations and doubts.
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Ancestral and Apostolic Seeds
Preparation for the Feast of the Pentecost