Thought for the Day – 19 December –

Thought for the Day – 19 December – Meditations withAntonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

A Christmas Novena IV
The First Hours of the
Childhood of Jesus Christ

“Enter in spirit into the stable at Bethlehem and humbly kneel before the Word of God made man.
What do we find Jesus doing in these first moments of His mortal life.
By a single act of His divine will, He could have instantly transformed the human race.
But, He came to redeem men and preach to them before anything else, the virtues which they most needed – humility, indifference to worldly possessions and the acceptance of suffering.
He taught them to endure suffering, neither rebelliously, nor even as a disagreeable necessity but, as a means of purification and sanctification.
Before the time of Jesus Christ, suffering was dreaded and abhorred.
He taught us to love it because it is the salt of the earth which saves us from corruption because, it detaches us from worldly things and because, it lifts our thoughts towards Heaven.

What then do we find Jesus doing in these first moments of His mortal life|?
He is weeping and smiling by turns, as a newborn infant does.
How can we understand the mystery behind these divine tears?
Jesus does not weep because it is cold and damp, nor because He is uncomfortable on His bed of straw.
He could have remedied these inconveniences, if He had so desired by a single act of His will.
No, He weeps for us, for the human race, immersed in sin.
He weeps and suffers, so that we also may learn to weep and suffer for our sins and to do penance for them.
This is the explanation of the tears of the Divine Child.
Let us learn to weep with Him and we shall be purified and comforted.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci