What
really happened surrounding the birth of Jesus? What is God’s purpose for his
birth? He wanted all men to be
saved. He wanted to call all men, all
people to Himself. Because He is the true life, He is the only Savior. To no
other name can anyone be saved except through the name of Jesus. But among the
Jews God chose the shepherds whom to announce his birth. The Jews have been
waiting anxiously for the coming of the
Savior but only the shepherds were privileged to hear of the news. God used
angels to announce the Good News. “An angel of the Lord appeared to the
shepherds who were camping to watch over their flocks. The angel said to them,
“ Don’t be afraid; I am here to give you good news, great joy for all the
people.Today a Savior has been born to you, he is the Messiah and the Lord.”
(Lk.2:8-11) The shepherds believed
the angels and they went hurriedly to the place indicated by the angels
and, “there they found Mary and Joseph with the baby lying in the manger. They
related what the angels said about the child. They returned to their homes
giving glory and praise to God for all they had heard and seen just as the
angels told them.” (Lk.2: 16-17,20)
Somewhere else, there are other people
known as the Gentiles, who learned of the birth of the Savior .God sent a sign, this time, it is a Star. There
was a star. During the days of King
Herod, wise men from the east arrived in
Jerusalem. They asked, ”Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw the rising of his star in the east and have come to honor him.”(Mt.2:1-2)
Jesus
also revealed Himself as the Savior of all people- both of the Jews and the Gentiles. He came to
the world for all of us. Through Him we will all be saved. Here in our country,
the Philippines, we heard the call of the Lord through the foreign
missionaries. The Spanish brought
Christianity to all of us. On a personal
level, who gave you your faith? When and where did you receive Christ?
Our
own parents who are Catholics, who are Christian themselves. We
understood our faith through the priests, the religious, the catechists, the lectors-commentators, and
teachers. Yes, in our own time, you will
be able to learn more about Jesus as our Savior through these group of people.
Through them we received the light of faith. The light of faith which we
received trhough the various Bible seminars and other spiritual and religious
enrichment programs. Unlike the wise men
who saw the light of the star which guided them to reach Jesus. But for us, we received the light of faith
from Jesus- the light Himself.
If we recognize Jesus as our true Savior, that He loves us very
much, then like St. Therese of the Child Jesus who said, “love is repaid by love, we too have to give our love, offer
ourselves, give our service to the Lord in full measure.”