The Nativity of the Lord. Christmas
Readings of Mass During the
Night
Is 9:1-6; Titus 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14
For Sister Emmanuela and Father
Edward
Food, Glorious food! That’s a song from a
Broadway musical-Oliver!-as you well
know. What does that have to do with Christmas, you may ask?! I’ll tell you. On
the last day of my sabbatical in Rome I heard a word, I received a Word as if from
God; that is, from one of his “angels.” We fifteen priests were being given a
tour of the great Roman basilica, Saint Mary Major. I had been there before but
never on a guided tour. With a guide, someone who points things out, ones sees
more, hears more, too. She showed us a famous icon of Our Lady, “Salus del Populi
Romani, Health of the Roman People.” Then, the first ever Christmas creche by
Arnolpho de Canbio, later popularized by St. Francis of Assisi. The last stop on
this two hour tour was to the crypt below the high altar. Beneath the high altar
was a shrine. Encased in glass, beneath the high altar, was the manger of Christ,
the actual manger that held the body of the infant Jesus. Our guide was a
religious sister, a nun. Her name was Sister Emmanuela. Her name means
God-With-Us. Sister God-With-Us began preaching to the priests. She said a
word, and it was as though I was hearing it for the first time. She had our
priest-leader, Father Edward, read the nativity account from St. Luke’s Gospel.
Maybe it was the setting, or the occasion, or the manger right in front of me, plus
the inbreaking of grace, but everything came into a sharp focus. The word was “mangiare,”
from the Italian, meaning “to eat.” She repeated it so it would sink in: “mangiare.”
Manger means a feeding trough. We often
lose sight of that. Jesus was placed in a feeding trough in God’s design to foreshadow
that he would become food for the world, the bread of angels, the Panis
Angelicus, come to man. Seeing the ancient wooden feeding trough beneath the high
altar was a vivid, powerful experience.
Mary and Joseph fed the infant Jesus,
preparing him to feed us with his body and blood. They set out in seeming darkness,
the way we do. Fed by God’s providence, they proceeded on their way. We, too,
must take nourishment lest the journey be too much for us. The word becomes
flesh in our lives. Christ is born in us when we take Holy Communion. Food,
glorious food, indeed.
Mary and Joseph were not alone. We are not
alone. Emmanuel, God-is-with-us. Christ feeds us with his body to strengthen us
amidst life’s difficulties and sorrows. Joseph and Mary’s path forward was
difficult. So is ours. So, Mangiare! Take
and eat! Food for the journey. Fed by the Lord, we become bread for others. Parents,
bring your children to the stable. See the manger. See Him. Born for us today. Mary
gave him flesh and so do we. Come, let us adore him and bear him from the manger
to the world.