The Nativity

by Paul E. Berick

I was in front of the blessed sacrament last week, beside a young friend of mine who is entering the church.  She had mentioned to me how excited she is about her first holy communion being just around the corner.  This had inspired me to dwell upon this sacrament, and the following points came to mind.

Christ came into this world in the most humble circumstances.  He entered the world 2000 years ago in Bethlehem in a cold dark cave.  It was cold, it was dark, it was a cave, and He was God.  He was then wrapped up and placed into an animal food trough.  He chose this entrance, and we don't know why.  Joseph, being the only "average Jo" human being in the family, was very concerned at this.  He was unable to secure a room for Mary at this most critical moment in the history of the universe, but persuaded a large Ox over to the manger to breathe onto the infant savior to supply warmth.

Now, my friends, look at the mystery of holy communion.  Christ enters us so humbly, again under the guise of food, wrapped in mystery, into the dark cave of our mouth, warmed by our breath.  Many of us can relate to the spiritual winter all around us, and many of us can not understand the depth of God's plan, but look to Bethlehem.  Remember that this was but the birth of Christ, communion is not a sporadic event in the life of a Catholic, but an opportunity to take the humbled savior into the world of your soul, and nurture and sustain the true life of God within yourself. 

We modern Americans live in a world that doesn't require intense physical strength to survive.  We work in offices, at computers, on phones... not running or climbing unless for fun or recreation.  If we needed great physical strength to survive it would be bad news for the weak.  We do not, however, live in a world which requires no spiritual strength.  Things have not gotten an iota easier for our spiritual life.  Friends, it takes discipline and commitment to go to the gym regularly, to lift, tone, swim, climb, run... and we learn to enjoy it.  We feel healthy, we feel great.  Get a friend to go with you, it becomes a group thing, a journey to fitness!  We see many similarities between this discipline and that of going to church.  But to truly face God is to truly face our souls.  This quickly becomes something we're not interested in facing.  God becomes more and more like a giant finger pointing towards our conscience and souls -- not something we want to see.  It's like someone telling you to clean your house, which hasn't been cleaned for 20 years.  It's disgusting.  We've successfully forgotten about much of the dust covered debris, yet it's still there to be cleaned out.  It's a painful process, but necessary for true life.  Why is it so painful?  Two analogies.  One, you wake up in the middle of the night and you've been laying on your arm... and it's dead asleep... dead asleep.  It's like cold and you can't feel it at ALL.  You know that feeling of the blood slowly working its way back into your arm?  It's one of the worst pains ever! But would you rather have no feeling?  No arm?  It's spiritually a matter of when you're going to allow this spiritual awakening.  Good luck, and I'm here for you.  Second, imagine a glass of water that has been sitting for years.. on the ground, at a construction site.  There's going to be an inch of soot, dirt, and dust on the bottom of that glass (barring evaporation, of course, but you get the point).  Now imagine you decide to pour fresh clean water into the glass.  It's something God is definitely willing to do to our souls, but what happens to the glass.  The water is overflowing, the old water is being replaced by the new, but at the same time the dirt is being kicked up off the bottom.  The stagnant water is being flushed out, but the layers of soot turn the glass into an opaque and apparently more dirty mixture.  It's not pretty, but soon the glass will be clean.  It's not ever a matter of "feeling guilty" or "feeling lost and confused," but a matter of bringing to surface the guilt and confusion you've accepted and adopted over the years.  It's only after you face who you are that you can begin to become all that you can be.