December 2017
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
A chapel in Shepherds’ Field outside of Bethlehem commemorates the wondrous events of Christmas in three beautiful paintings.
In the first painting, the shepherds, keeping watch over their flock by night, are roused from their silent vigil by the glad tidings of an angel, glorious streams from Heaven, and the strains of an angelic choir.
In the second painting, the shepherds, having traveled to Bethlehem, bow in awe and adoration before the newborn Christ Child in the manger as heavenly light illuminates the Holy Family. In the final painting, dawn is breaking, the Heavenly streams of God’s glory are fading, and the shepherds are again back amidst their flock. But the shepherds are changed.
In the third painting, an elderly shepherd looks upward with an expression of wonder. Another shepherd pipes a tune on a simple musical instrument while a shepherd boy skips with exuberance, joy, and uplifted arms. They have returned to the place where they were but they have not returned the way they were. They are filled with joy, wonder and awe that God has come to them.
Christmas reminds us that God has also come to us. The shepherds’ path to joy is also ours. At Christmas Mass and every Mass we might think of ourselves as shepherds going to Bethlehem. After hearing God’s Word, we go to Him in the communion line, bow in adoration and receive the same Divine Child born of Mary and worshiped by the shepherds at the manger.
As the shepherds departed from the stable, so may we depart Christmas Mass, and every Mass, with joy, wonder and awe that God has come to us. May this Christmas change us so that as we return to our routines with a deeper appreciation of God’s love for us, we may bear witness to that love just as the shepherds did on that first Christmas morning.
With every prayerful best wish for a Blessed and Merry Christmas, I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Robert J. McManus
Bishop of Worcester