“Francis wanted to see with the eyes of the body The Child of Bethleem”
(cfr. Franciscan sources 468)
With your heavenly light, Lord,
make us ready,
always and everywhere,
to contemplate with pure gaze
and welcome with worthy affection
the Mystery of which You has wanted us to share.
For Christ our Lord. Amen.
Peace to all of you from Jerusalem, not as the world gives it, but as the Lord gives it.
This beautiful prayer of the V-VI century, is the Postcommunio of the feast of the Epiphany, which tells the Gospel page of the Magi (Mt 2,1ff.) who come from distant lands guided by the heavenly Light and find themselves contemplating the powerful Messiah of which the powerful do not recognize him, and the Scriptures make it clear: the birth of the Messiah king, a Child, is expected. We too are inside this ikon every time we approach the Sacraments, the Eucharist, Adoration... We are once again involved and around the Manger. For us children of Francis of Assisi, in this time of Christmas we are celebrating the anniversary of the 800 years of the Crib of Greccio. It is something mysterious that the ‘Poverello’ of Assisi, has been able to represent in a simple and alive way! It is the mystery of the Incarnation which even today, in this confused, agitated and peaceless historical moment, has the power to bring its Light to humanity in need, even beyond our ability to respond to it! This awareness rekindles hope in us!
It is precisely this great Mystery that makes the great small, and the small great! He realizes hopes, doubles his strength, faith grows in concrete love. Returning to the Manger, beyond the possible interpretations sweetened, I would like to share with you two perspectives. The first: contemplating the mystery of the Nativity and the Epiphany we can intuit and "see concretely" with the eyes of the body, as Saint Francis wished, the needs in which the Lord found himself living when he was born. The Child of Bethlehem was in need of everything, of protection, of being held, warmed, fed, changed and loved. We can guess: she was totally dependent on Mary Most Holy and Saint Joseph. In the second perspective there is a theological-revealing meaning of our human condition: the Son of God becomes small to open us and show us the way to return home to his Kingdom! Like the little ones, of whom Jesus himself speaks in the Gospel and of whom the Kingdom of Heaven is, we too are called to abandon ourselves in God. We depend on him, we need his protection, his gaze, to call us by our name, his love, we need everything: we cannot hide this truth that gives us identity! The Almighty Lord, in his earthly life, came to show us men drawn from the earth, how we can return to live of Him, with Him and for Him, as a child who smiles at the smiling face of the Father, an endless joy.
We are at the beginning of the New Year: let us dedicate our time to the Lord! Let us pray more and let us truly pray that it is our time-life in the Lord, only he can give us that belonging that gives light and hope even where there is darkness and suffering! Let us pray to the Queen of Peace, Mary Most Holy, that she may intercede for us!
Happy New Year, in the Lord
