One week ago today love was born in a manger. Today, on the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, we stand by the crèche along with Our Lady, St. Joseph and the shepherds to adore the Christ child asleep in His crib. It is a great joy to have Christ with us now, but what happens when the Christmas season ends on January 10th, the Baptism of The Lord. Will He be put away with the Christmas decorations? Jesus Christ remains forever close to us in the Tabernacle but also in our hearts. Quite often Our Lord places people in our paths but we often pass them by for we see with our limited human vision. In order to see others’ as Christ sees them, we must first know Him. To know Him, we must listen to the words He speaks to our hearts.
Christ loves us with an infinite love and calls each us by name but frequently we do not hear His voice for the cares and responsibilities of life cause us to unknowingly filter out His voice. To hear Him we must enter into the silence of our hearts where we will hear Him speak.
How do we recognize the voice of God? He comes to us in many ways. Perhaps the most obvious is through spiritual advisors or trusted friends. However, He also comes in unexpected ways, in song lyrics, lines from movies or television programs, thoughts that “unexpectedly pop into our heads”, and in dreams. We shutter to think what would have been had St. Joseph disregarded his dreams as nonsensical meanderings of the human subconscious. He may not have married Our Lady, and Our Lord Jesus may have been counted among the Holy Innocents – the infant martyrs who died at the hands of Herod and his jealous wrath. Naturally, St. Joseph must have been certain that the messages he received were indeed from God or he would not have altered his own plans. Simeon and Anna through the action of the Holy Spirit, recognized the Christ child as the Savior of the World. Recall that St. John the Baptist also knew of the Savior’s birth while still in his mother Elizabeth’s womb. God sent him as the forerunner of the Christ to come so that we would recognize Him of whom John spoke. The gospel of St. John 14:25-26, 29-30 says, “These things I have spoken to you while yet dwelling with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your mind whatever I have said to you. … And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it has come to pass you may believe.” The Holy Spirit awakened the thoughts stored in the minds of His disciples, and also told them of things to come.
Our Lord speaks to us in similar ways. Consider the common phenomenon: an old friend from our past comes to mind and minutes, hours, or days later we hear from him; or perhaps we have a thought that a letter from so and so is in our mailbox, and discover upon picking up our mail, a letter from that friend; or two close friends utter the same words at precisely the same moment. We have all experienced such happenings. Why would Our Lord speak to us of such seemingly trivial incidents? Might it be that He is teaching us how to recognize His voice? If we believe in small matters, we will receive the graces to believe in matters of greater significance. If God did not reveal Himself in this way we would likely dismiss the thoughts as figments of our imagination. He wants us to believe and thus He manifests Himself through divine inspiration. When we receive perceived inspirations we should ALWAYS pray about them for they must be tested to ascertain that they are from God. Additionally, consultation with a trusted spiritual advisor is essential. St. Josemaria Escriva, the Founder of Opus Dei said, “Get to know the Holy Spirit, the Great Unknown, the one who has to sanctify you. Don’t forget that you are a temple of the God. The Paraclete is in the center of your soul: listen to him and follow his inspirations with docility.” (The Way, #57.) St. Josemaria founded Opus Dei through divine inspiration on October 2, 1928.
Rejoice with Our Lady and St. Joseph and believe in the Child Jesus. He who is our Savior, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Prince of Peace is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
Recommended Reading:
In the School of the Holy Spirit, by Jacques Philippe
Christ is Passing By, Christ Triumphs through Humility, and the Epiphany of Our Lord, by St. Josemaria Escriva
Both books are available through Scepter Publishers, Inc. www.scepterpublishers.org
Works by St. Josemaria Escriva may also be viewed on-line at: www.opusdei.org
