Bishop: The Nativity scene inspires beauty from brokenness
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Nothing says “all things are possible with God” quite like a Christmas depiction of the Babe in the manger.
It is an essential reminder of the gift that changed the world and continues to do so.
“The manger scene is a shrine of our Catholic belief that out of humanity’s many forms of brokenness, something beautiful, something unexpected, something holy can come, with God’s help — not by chance or our work alone, but day by day, out of our acceptance and recognition of our own spiritual poverty, and only because of God,” said Bishop W. Shawn McKnight.
Bishop McKnight presided and preached the homily at the 4 p.m. Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City.
Father Stephen Jones, pastor of the Cathedral Parish, and Father Joseph Luzindana, associate pastor, concelebrated.
It was the first Christmas Mass in the newly updated, repaired and beautified Cathedral, and took place on the 55th anniversary of the first Mass to be celebrated there.
“This is one of the great seasons of our faith!” the bishop proclaimed from the cathedra, or bishop’s chair, from which the Cathedral takes its name.
He talked about how the abject humility of the Son of God being born in a stable prefigured everything else Jesus would teach and do to procure salvation for those he was sent to save.
Right up to his brutal execution and totally definitive resurrection.
“That is why this baby was born to us, to show us the way to his Kingdom – not through power and might, not through money and ostentation, but through love, mercy, tenderness and poverty of spirit,” the bishop stated.
Jesus showed the way by allowing himself to become totally dependent on his mother’s care and his Father’s grace.
“What captures our attention, what resonates with our hearts, is the tenderness and meekness of the scene,” said Bishop McKnight.
Namely, the God who reigns over the entire Universe in its incomprehensible vastness, is made visible in the person of “a humble, poor, vulnerable little human being lying in a manger.”
Mary, his mother, and Joseph, his stepfather, had little to offer Jesus in terms of material wealth or earthly comforts.
“And yet, they were the ones chosen by God to be entrusted with special responsibility for the care and raising of God’s only Son,” the bishop noted.
“You see, the simplicity and poverty of the manger scene foreshadows the end of this baby’s life, when Christ accepted his Cross and the poverty of his Passion — but in so doing, was brought to the Resurrection and the gift of new life,” he said.
Here and now
Bishop McKnight emphasized that Christmas is a celebration not only of a moment in history but also something that “continues to happen in our day and in our world, especially in our very brokenness.”
“The Mystery of Christmas has the power to change our lives, particularly in moments of grief, isolation and difficulty, when we are tempted to depression, despair and discouragement,” he said.
He spoke of how God led an upright man who was befuddled with his circumstances, to embrace his vocation to be the husband and protector of the Blessed Mother, and stepfather of God’s own Son.
The bishop said a close reading of Scripture makes clear that Joseph was not angry that the woman who was betrothed to him had become pregnant.
Rather, “he had a reverential fear for the great mystery of her unborn child.”
Joseph was well aware of the prophesy that a virgin shall bear a Son, who would be “God With Us” (Isaiah 7:14).
Appearing to Joseph in a dream, God’s messenger told him not to be afraid to take up his pivotal role in salvation history.
But Joseph “feels his own unworthiness, and holy fear overcomes him, and he seeks to excuse himself from the scene,” the bishop noted.
The angel convincingly reassured him, and “the mystery of Christmas changed Joseph into SAINT Joseph, husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus — just as we see him in the manger scene,” said Bishop McKnight.
The angel’s message to Joseph — “Do not be afraid” — is for everyone.
So is the Christ Child’s example of helping others, even from a position of total dependence.
“Our words to others in broken situations don’t have to be great or spectacular,” said Bishop McKnight. “Our actions don’t have to be epic, just true, genuine and authentic.
“Something simple coming from something broken, in the hands of God, can become amazingly beautiful,” he said. “This gives us a hope that can change the world.”
“Because of the Mystery of Christmas, you and I can become like the stars in a darkened sky,” he stated.
